Avatar the Last Airbender
by sportie07
Summary: Story starts with Aang Energybending Ozai, and what happens afterwards. Aang learns that he has to leave if he is to get this Demon out of him. Things don't always go as planned for the Avatar, as he learns of a Rebellion forming. KatAang and others too.
1. Chapter 1

Avatar the Last Airbender

**I ****don't**** own Av****atar****. I am a big fan though, this is just my story of what happened with ****Aang****. I'm not a writer, b****ut**** I love ****Kataang****. I hope to continue this, even if my reviews suck, I am expecti****ng**** to get criticism. We start off when ****Aang**** is all Blue and ****Ozai**** is Red all over...enjoy.**

Aang could feel that he was losing. Even though he was able to be back in the Avatar state once more, this was something completely different. He knew taking away someone's bending was going to be the hardest thing he would ever have to do, but he didn't think it would be this impossible. He could feel the strong evil inside of Ozai, how it had built up in his chi, and was now bending Aang to his will. Darkness was taking Aang, and the world around him was fading away faster than he expected. He knew if he didn't fight back, everything that he and his friends fought for will have been for nothing, but it was too strong. Aang knew he had a good soul and even a love able heart, and he remembered Katara telling him on the day of Black Sun, "We've been through a lot together, and I've seen you grow up so much. Your not that goofy kid I met in the ice. What I am trying to say Aang, is, I am really proud of you." If only she could see him now...she would be disgusted at him right now, not that she wasn't already after what happened on Ember Island. He knew he shouldn't have pressed her, but he wanted to feel the softness of her lips once more. Even if it was his last time to be with her, he promised himself that no matter if she didn't want him, he would not let her live in a world where Ozai would kill every last bender...just like he did with Monk Gyatso and the other Air Nomads.

It was in that instant Aang realized he might not ever be able to see Katara again, and that he would never tell her how sorry he was. He knew he would take an arrow for her, but the fear was so strong in Aang that it was blinding him from doing his duty...not just as the Avatar but as a friend to Katara. In that moment something inside of Aang snapped, he no longer cared if he lived or died, just as long as Katara and everyone else could live to see the comet fly by as if nothing had happened. He then made a promise to himself and Yue "If I live through this, and see Katara, I will never pursue her again." That was when Aang looked down at Ozai, and with everything that was good inside of him, he fought back. He could feel his heart beating fast, sweat pouring down on his body, and as tired as he was, his heart screamed "No!" It was like fighting against a tidal wave, gasping for air, but it keeps knocking you down. He saw a small light before being consumed by Ozai's evil. Aang screamed,"Katara!" and that was when Aang's chi turned on Ozai. Aang could see the blue turning on Ozai's body, and when there was no more energy bending left, Aang let go. Ozai fell instantly, as Aang staggered to stay on his feet. Aang was sucking in air, as if he hadn't been breathing the entire time, he could feel the sweat stinging on his lower where new cuts had been formed. While barely able to stand on his two feet, Ozai tried to get up, but failed miserably as he fell back hard on the ground.

"What...what did you do to me?" Aang took a deep breath and said, "I took away your fire bending. You can't use it to hurt or harm anyone else ever again." Aang knew Ozai wouldn't be able to get up, and with what little strength he himself had, he needed to put out the fires all around him. He inhaled and exhaled, and entered into the Avatar state...as a fully realized Avatar. He brought the water up, took out every last bit of flames around him, and returned the water back to where it belonged. In that instant, Aang fell to his knees, still gasping for air, and as he placed his hands on the rocks, he could see his hands bleeding. As he looked at himself more closely he could see burn marks all over himself, and deep enough cuts that would end up becoming a scars. Aang wasn't aware of a fire nation blimp approaching, nor did he care. He did what he needed to do, and now if they wanted to kill him, then so be it.

But what he didn't expect to hear was Sokka's voice screaming with enthusiasm "You did it! You should have seen yourself, it was amazing!" Sokka started to make a lot of funny noises and weird faces, in which Aang could only smile at his best friend. It was Suki's turn to speak, "So...did you...you know...finish the job?" Before Aang spoke, Ozai spoke for himself, "I'm still alive." Even with his bending gone, he still sounded just as dark and evil. Sukki was caught off guard by the comment; they were even more surprised by Aang's response. "I found out there was another way to defeat him, so I took away his bending." "Whoa," said Toph, "who taught you that?" "A giant Lion Turtle" said Aang with a little bit more air inside of him. After the gang taunted the "Phoenix King" a little bit more, they headed back to the ship. Suki and Toph took Ozai to a cell, and came back for Aang, who had fallen to the ground with his eyes shut. He finally did it...he mastered the Avatar state at such a young age in about 7 months, defeated the Fire Lord without killing him, and saved the most important person in his life, Katara. The thought of her was intoxicating to Aang, he could remember the smell of the ocean on her, the way her eyes sparkled in the moon, how beautiful her chocolate hair looked when it was down, and that her lips were so soft, that it felt like kissing silk. But Aang remember the promise that he made to himself and felt a tear run down his face, as he passed out on the rocks. He didn't even realize that Toph and Sukki had dragged him back onto the ship, where Suki tended to his wounds, and Toph walked back to Sokka.

Toph walked in, sat down and listened to the silence of the room, while Sokka steered. She could tell Sokka was in pain after the jump they had made when Suki rescued them, but he would not show it in front of her, that she knew for sure.  
After some time of silence Sokka continued to steer and embraced the silence that was surrounding them both. He just couldn't believe that it was over with, that the war would finally end. After months of restlessness, yelling, fighting, running, sleeping in the dirt, eating weird food, and even the pain of losing people, had finally paid off. He still couldn't believe Aang didn't kill Ozai, but he knew that if he did, Aang would no longer be the best friend he had grown to respect.

Toph couldn't stand the silence any more. "Can you believe Twinkle Toes actually did it?" said Toph in a loud voice that echoed in the metal room. She always knew Aang could do it, but he doubted himself too much when it came to fighting...as well as earth bending.  
"Yea," said Sokka, "who would have ever guessed Aang could pull of the impossible on such a pure evil guy?" It was a rhetorical question, and Toph knew he was in deep thought, but she was trying to get the courage to thank Sokka for what he did up there. Hanging onto her for life, while he was hurting, and even though she was blind, she felt Sokka's pulse racing...she knew if she was going down, than so was he.  
"I know right?" Toph said with a crooked smile, "Guess I can't ever duel Aang in earth bending again!"  
This made Sokka smile, he knew she would NEVER back down from a fight, even if someone else had the ability to "energy bend," she would fight to the death and never give up...and she had proved that by teaching herself to metal bend. "I doubt 'The Blind Bandit' would back down from a fight with the Avatar." He heard Toph softly laugh at his own humor, and he too smiled at himself and continued," And besides, I'm sure he's ready for another rematch with you after everything he has learned. You taught him how to be tough, and solid, just like you. And I admire that about you Toph"  
Toph blushed a little bit, she and Sokka never had much of a moment like this...well except when she was hanging onto dear life with him, but it was kind of nice to see Sokka on his happy side. "Sokka...um, about what happened back there...I, just, wanted to say..." but before she could say it, Sokka jumped in and said with a smile, "Your welcome Toph." That was one thing Sokka and Toph could understand about each other. They were both stubborn people who never wanted to ask for any sort of help, admit they were wrong, or would never be grateful out loud to those who would help them...especially when they needed it most. Sokka wanted to keep that tradition alive with them. Toph then said "Actually what I was going say was the hour before we fight a huge army, you might want to shower first. I could smell you a mile away, and I bet that's why those soldiers ran away." She crossed her arms and smiled at how quick she was with her sarcastic remarks, and only heard Sokka laugh. "And the moments gone" said Sokka to himself. Toph then heard stealthy footsteps in the hall, and knew it was Suki. "Well I'm heading to bed, try to stay a little focused flying tonight, we don't want to crash", said Toph, and with that she walked away.

Sokka didn't quite understand what she meant by not crashing. It was pretty much impossible to do when flying a huge blimp, but he instead shrugged it off and continued flying. After a few minute he felt warm arms around his waist, and a light head leaning on his shoulders. Suki was so comfortable hanging onto Sokka, and she knew she was falling hard for this guy who went from being a total arrogant meat eating jerk, to a brave and loving warrior...who still liked meat probably more than her. But she was going to change that eventually in her evil little plan. She laughed at the thought, and heard the echo of the man in front of her as he turned it head sideways and said "What?" Suki then got on her tip toes and whispered in a seductive voice, "Nothing", and with that she started kissing his neck up and down, and then she began suck on his earlobe. Sokka's eyes went into the back of his head, as he inhaled and exhaled with much difficulty, and when she giggled, it made it harder for Sokka to resist. After a couple of seconds, Sokka couldn't take it any more. He turned around, grabbed her face and kissed her softly, which didn't last too much longer, as Suki decided to brush her tongue against Sokka's lips, hoping for him to take the bait. In which he did without hesitation, they battled it out, neither of them willing to break apart for air. Sokka brought his hands down from her face to hips and pulled her even closer to him, Suki wrapped her arms around his neck as they continued to suck the life out of each other. They would have continued longer, but they soon heard a loud screeching sound of rock and metal. Sokka let go of Suki regrettably, and turned around to see that they were colliding sideways against a canyon rock. Sokka quickly took the steering wheel and brought them back on course. It was right then, that Sokka heard a small giggle, not from Suki, but from Toph. He didn't know how Toph did it, but she managed, and he would get her back tomorrow. Sokka made sure that there was nothing else out there to hit before he turned around to see the girl he'd fallen in love with. Suki only smiled at him, and instead of going back to making out again, she kissed him softly and whispered in his ear "I love you, but I want to stay alive a little bit longer if you don't mind." She kissed him one more time, with a little bit more passion. She then broke away, and whispered a smile into his mouth "good night." Suki walked out in a daze, happy she could celebrate it with the one man she loved.

As Sokka watched her leave, a part of him agonized over running with her into his room and sleeping with his arms around her. But unfortunately that would have to wait until they got back to the Fire Nation, hoping to find out that Katara and Zuko were okay. Sokka had truly missed his baby sister, who was always there for him, and loved him for just who he was, and of course nagged him to death everyday. He even missed Zuko, who wasn't always the talker, but had gotten him closer since he helped rescue his dad from the Boiling Rock. It's funny how things turn out sometimes, he thought to himself, enemies becoming friends, first crushes turning into the moon spirit, traveling to the spirit world, riding a 10 ton flying bison, becoming a Master Swordsman, having the woman he loves by his side and having a best friend who is the Avatar..."Man!", Sokka said to himself, "I need some meat, I'm starting to act like Katara." He laughed at the thought of him being like his sister, and then he looked back down the hall where Aang's room was, and back in the night sky, wishing to the stars for his best friend to be okay.

Aang kept twisting and turning in his bunk...or at least that's where he thought he was. The bed was much softer than the one he had been sleeping on in the blimp, and there were even pillows all around him. He opened his eyes a little, hoping to find Katara at his side, but it was instead just a servant girl who was putting fresh towels on the chair. Aang looked down to see he was still sweating a lot, even the sheet were a little wet from where his back and neck were. He didn't quite understand why he felt so sick, but he knew it was most likely because he hadn't eaten for three days straight since he left Ember Island, and the stress only made it worse for him not to eat. Lost in his own thoughts, he realized he was alone again. Even with the grumbling of his stomach, he knew he was too weak to even try to eat food, but it was the thought of Katara that kept him in bed. He started to tear up again on that stupid promise he made, and regretted it with all of his heart, and yet he would keep it. Yue helped save him when he was going to give up in that ocean, but she was there to guide him back to Katara, even when he ran from her. The thought of that was comforting, but not enough to stop the tears from flowing quietly. His eyes began to get heavier and heavier, and he was soon fast asleep, with only his promise to keep for the rest of his life.

**Figured I should have a cliff hanger sorda, please give me advice on how to make it better, like I said this is my first story, don't expect much. Sorry no Kataang here really, but if I'm reviewed it'll be there, promise. Thanks, review please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey thanks for the comments everyone! And I apologize for my errors in the last chapter. I stayed up at 3-8 am doing that chapter, so PLEASE forgive me for not having good grammar...and possibly in this chapter too, and I hope this chapter makes up for that. Okay, another chapter up. This is about when they land in the Fire Nation, and what special moments happen with Aang and Katara. Please enjoy. I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.**

It was like Ba Sing Se all over again for Katara, as she waited next to the bed while Aang rested. When Sokka, Toph, and Suki showed up, there was so much joy and happiness going around, but the one person who was really on her mind, was Aang. The last thing she remembered was fighting with him about his duty as the Avatar, and then he just left. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, and she always knew that he would find a way out.

"_Where's Aang?" Katara asked as she was looking at all of them with joy in her eyes to see her family return home._

"_Katara…" said Sokka, who was trying to find the right words to tell her, but was easily distracted with his leg hurting all of the sudden. Katara knew he was avoiding the question for some reason and looked up to Suki with hopeful eyes. _

_Suki looked down at Sokka's leg, sighed, and said "He's in the first cabin on the right. Whatever Aang did to Ozai, it took every ounce of his strength he had to do it. He hasn't woken up in about a day…and his body could use some healing too."_

_Katara's smile faded as she looked down at Sokka, whose only concern was his leg at the time, not wanting to see her face reaction. Katara ran past them all as fast as she could, almost tripping over herself to get to where Aang was, hoping he was alive._

_She found the room and turned into it, seeing a boy, lying on the bed with no shirt and bandages all around him. As Katara looked at Aang, she could see some of the blood seeping through the day old bandages, and as she lifted some of it off, she could tell the wounds were still fresh. For a second Katara couldn't breathe, and fell to her knees grabbing his hand, allowing her eyes traveled to his face, only to see many cuts and bruises forming around him. She rubbed his hands and realized that they were no longer soft, but scabbed and dry._

_She ran her fingers along the bandages that covered his skin, and whipped her tears away trying to be the strong water bender that she was. She continued tracing the rough bandages, until something changed underneath her hand. It was soft and warm underneath her hand, and as she looked up, her hand had traced to his chest. She was all of the sudden marveled by his figure, as she went from his chest to traveling up to his shoulders, and began tracing the sky blue tattoos that ran down his right arm, and the veins that were popping out._

_Once she memorized his right arm, her fingers traveled back up to his chest, and flowed back down to where his abs were, and began to memorize again every muscle on him, even though the bandages covered up a lot of his stomach. She continued this for a few more minutes, realizing what a great body Aang had started growing into. Katara blushed at the thought of this, but couldn't help it as she continued to running her fingers up and down on him, and seeing the goose bumps rise on Aang. Her hand stopped at Aang's heart, where it beat very slowly, and could feel his breathing slowing down too._

"_So are you just going to drool over him, or are you going to help me get him to the infirmary?" said Toph, who was obviously sick and tired of hearing her heart beat like crazy. _

_Katara smiled at her new little sister and said, "Actually, I think I can carry him on my own." She didn't want to disturb Aang or even touch him with all bandages covering him up._

_Toph took a step forward and spit to the left side, saying "No you won't, because for some reason Twinkle Toes ain't so light anymore. Suki and I had a tough time carrying a guy who supposedly weighs ninety pounds of nothing."_

_Katara looked back and Aang, and knew she was right, and with a sighed relief she allowed the earth bender to carry Aang back with her. Toph was right., Aang was a lot heavier than what she remembered, and for that reason, they had to lay him down a couple of times to catch their breath. When they finally made it into the room, Katara laid Aang on the bed and looked at him with agonizing eyes. She placed her hand on his head to stroke his arrow, but soon drew back quickly at how hot he was. Toph had already shut the door, leaving the water bender to do her thing. _

_Katara began to take off his bandages, and realized some of the wounds were deeper than when she saw them on the blimp. Katara bended the water into her hands and began to heal him just enough to stop the bleeding. She always enjoyed touching Aang like this, it always gave her another reason to feel his baby soft skin, which was now scabby and rough. She flipped Aang over on his stomach as gently as she could, but with little success, she heard him moan out loud. It was the first sound Aang had made since they carried him here._

_This made her heart jump into her throat with both joy and pain, realizing Aang was going to make it. As she finally looked down at his back he had just as many cuts and bruises, than he did on the front that crossed onto his tattoo. She began to work on him ever so lightly, afraid that if she touched the tattoos, they would rub off from the water. After hours of hard work, Katara let the water run off her hand and onto the floor. She turned Aang over more gently on his back and put the covers on him. She sat next to Aang on the bed, looked at the young Airbender young features, she bent over and kissed him on the forehead, and whispered in his ear "Please come back to me." She lifted her head as she was in leaning her forehead on his now, she whispered again in a desperate plea, "Aang I need you.", and without realizing it, she kissed Aang on the lips. _

_She remembered them feeling like a cloud, if she really knew what clouds felt like, but was surprised to find out that they were very dry and had scabs forming over them. She knew she had to heal those lips if she was going to kiss him again. And that's when Katara pulled away from Aang, who didn't even react to what she just did. In which case she was grateful for, because her cheeks were burning like his forehead, and yet she had goose bumps all over her arms._

_Katara then walked outside, only a few feet away from Aang, trying to understand what just happened. "What am I doing?" she thought to herself, "this isn't right, why would I kiss Aang?" The answer came too quickly as she thought "Why wouldn't I?" _

_She soon found herself wanting more of him as her stomach started to turn on the inside. As she tried to reject it, it only got stronger. She wanted to kiss him more now and taste his lips. To feel his arms around her waist as she would sleep next to his warm body, and feel the cool breathing from his mouth. This was something new to Katara, it was scary, and yet she loved it. It was as if her body was longing to be with Aang in every way possible._

Katara smiled and that memory that was a week ago, and laid her hand on Aang's. She chose not to kiss Aang anymore, which proved to be quite difficult, because she wanted to show Aang that she wasn't confused or afraid anymore. She was finally ready to be with him.

A lot of his body was healing up quite nicely, but Katara insisted to her brother Sokka, that she would continue to watch over him and heal his wounds until the body could take over. Sokka didn't argue with her, but found it better, because Katara had that motherly touch on those she cared for.

Katara hadn't realized how tired she was until she laid her head next to Aang's left arm, still holding onto his hand, she was fast asleep, dreaming of her Aang once again.

Aang was barely able to open his eye lids, to see the room around him. They felt like they still had weights on them, but he knew he needed to get up. He didn't know how long he was asleep, but it was enough time for his hair to kind of start to grow back a little bit. He moved his left hand up to his head to feel the hair growing, but something stopped him from doing that. He looked down and saw Katara holding onto his hand, as if to never let go. She looked even more beautiful than he could remember, even with her warrior outfit on. It only made things harder for Aang not to want to hold her, feel her body against him, and kiss her without apologizing.

He gently removed his hand so as not to disturb her in her peaceful sleep. He removed the covers and air bended himself to the edge of the bed; he didn't realize how sore his entire body ached. Even when he breathed, it felt as if his lungs were bruised. His migraine wasn't helping much either as he slowly got to his feet.

He felt like an old man who used a cane to walk for most of his life, and was just starting to learn to walk again. He walked slowly to the other side of the room where a bowl of water and a towel was place on a small table. He dipped the towel into the warm water, but then placed it back into the bowl, and breathed cold air into it. He took the towel and placed it on his head to cool himself down for a little bit.

As he reached his left hand for a corner of the table to lean on, he missed it, and fell to the tile, not even wanting to attempt air bending again.

"Aahh" Aang groaned quietly, hoping by some miracle Katara wouldn't wake up, but he knew her better than that. Katara jumped up to the sound and realized Aang was the one who made the noise.

She rushed over to him, carefully helping him up. "Aang, what the hell are you doing?" Her voice was calm and soothing to Aang as he let her help him up by grabbing his left arm and her right around his waist. It felt so wonderful having her cradling him like that.

"I just needed to stretch my body out, but I think I just need a new one instead.", his voice was hoarse and very sore, at the moment, but it felt so good to speak to Katara that he didn't care. Katara smiled at the little joke, and helped Aang to the bed and seated him on the end of the bed. She then went back to get the towel and started dabbing it on his head.

"How are you feeling?" Katara knew it was a stupid question, but it was all she could think of to ask.

"Well considering I hit the floor pretty hard, I'd say I am doing okay for now." He smiled his crooked smile as he looked at her. She smiled too, starring into his stormy gray eyes, and started moving the towel down to Aang's neck. She stopped and blew cold air where the water left a trail, and it was just enough to satisfy a cold touch. Aang shivered not at the cold, but where Katara's hand was laid. She was never too scared to touch the scar that Azula left; sometimes he thought it had disappeared. Anytime she touched him, he shivered at her feathery touch, as if she was teasing with his skin.

"Better?" Katara whispered in his ear, making his heart jump as he could smell the blue ocean on her hair chocolate wavy hair. Aang could only nod and smile at the beautiful girl who sat next to him, feeling the heat between their bodies getting hotter as they inched closer. Aang started to lean a bit more towards Katara, but pulled back and looked at the ground as his smiled faded into pain instead.

Katara could hear her own heart pounding away as Aang leaned in towards her, but when he pulled back and saw his face; she knew he was in pain. "Aang, are you hurting again?"

Aang was still looking at the floor as he exhaled out of his nose and closed his eyes, "Yea…you could say that." There was obviously something more to the way Aang had said the words, as if it was a double meaning. She got up and was about to help Aang up, but he held his hand out, stopping her from touching him.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm just going to turn in now." Aang crawled on the bed slowly, and laid himself on the cooler side of the bed that he hadn't slept on yet. Katara tried to help, but Aang insisted that he could do it himself. He tried to lay himself gently on the bed, but the pain was too much that he just surrendered, and flopped on the bed. Katara ran over to make sure he was ok, but his only response was to pull the covers over his face, to hide his pain.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked sincerely.

"Yes, I think I still need to sleep." It was the only excuse, but he knew she would let him be after seeing how helpless he was in front of her.

"Is there anything I can get you, Aang?"

Aang was starting to get frustrated, not only at the fact that he was helpless, but that the girl he had come to love was still there with him, wanting to take care of him. "Katara, I know you want to help, but please don't anymore! You are treating me like I am helpless, but guess what, I'm not! He pulled the covers down to see her face, which was the wrong choice to make. He could see tears forming eyes as she looked into his. It broke his heart, but it needed to be said.

"Just get out! I don't need you anymore!" He knew he was about to run out of a voice with his tone getting higher, but Katara needed to leave, before he did something that he had been wanting to do since he found her holding his hand. Katara stood there as tears ran down her face.

"You…don't need m-me?" the words barely escaped her mouth as a whisper, in which she thought he didn't hear, but she was wrong.

"Don't you understand what I am saying?" it wasn't hitting her, so he played the Avatar card on her. "I am the Avatar, and I don't need you around to help me anymore!" Aang was trying to hold back the tears, and desperately wanting to fall on his knees and ask for her forgiveness, but he was going to have to be stronger now. "GET OUT!", as he said the words, he air bended the door open, and that was enough see Katara's break down in front of him. She walked backwards, taking steps slowly out the door hoping Aang would tell her something, but he only turned on his side with the covers over his face.

Katara shut the door quietly, and began to sob even louder, not caring who heard. She leaned on the door, and fell to her knees, and cried just like she did when her mother died. She felt so helpless to save her, and now Aang didn't even want her anymore. The world was supposed to be happy after the defeat of Ozai, but instead, there was more pain. Katara didn't know how long she cried, but it was long enough that she fell asleep at Aang's door.

Aang could hear Katara crying outside his door as she closed it. He never once yelled at Katara, and yet all the pain he went through with that promise, had finally come out, and now, he wished with all of his heart that he wasn't the Avatar. He wished that death could find him sooner, so that he could end this suffering for the both of them. He knew Katara would never talk to him, touch him, or even kiss him again. After a few hours of crying, he finally fell asleep with one last thought, "I love you Katara, but I never had a chance with you."

**Okay guys; tell me what you think of it. I hope I was able to please some of you with my "great" English skills! I'm just kidding; I am glad that some people were straight forward about it, so thank you to all the viewers out there reading this. Please review again, thanks =)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, got you another chapter, and i think this one is pretty loooong. I spent a while on it, but i hope you are satisfied with it.**

Aang woke up to the sun showing some pink in the blue and dark skies. He knew it was early, but he hadn't been able to sleep for the past two and a half weeks since he had defeated Ozai. There was so much that was going on in his life and everyone needed his advice on something. Whether it was over where to send troops, what the tax price should be, young boys asking his advice on girls, and sometimes even over what type of women Aang was planning on marrying. Zuko, however, had learned to redirect a question on a different matter, which Aang was always thankful for. Most of these things would have annoyed him, but he did whatever he could to avoid Katara, but it was even harder when he only saw her for a few seconds everyday.

Aang sat up as he breathed in the hot air of the Fire Nation, pulled the thin sheets off, and got out of bed quietly, so as not to wake up Momo. It had become tradition now for Aang to do three hundred hot squats everyday when he got up, and then it was four hundred push ups to keep his upper body stronger. After Zuko started training him when he first joined the group, making him do hot squats every time a frog croaked, and push ups every time he heard bird coo. Aang became very aware at how Katara would look at him sometimes, and enjoyed the feeling of her eyes pouring over him. Ever since then, he has tried to maintain a constant routine, and would practice fire bending everyday as well. There was something about fire that made his body have to work just as hard. He no longer minded the challenges, but now thrived on them. Aang's muscles still ached from the energy bending, but they had gotten better once Aang started being even more active. Everyday he was constantly training with Zuko, Toph, and sometimes even Sokka, who was willing to teach him the ways of the sword.

As Aang did his last fire ball kick at Zuko, who dodged it barely, they both bowed to each other, giving their respects. Aang's body was now all covered in sweat from his training with Zuko. As he looked down, he could see some of the scars that were left behind on him that were from Ozai. He didn't mind them; in fact he thought it made him look a little bit older, if at all. But it was mostly, because he liked to be reminded of what they all went through to get to where he was at today. Aang's hair was now all wet from the sweat. He had decided to let it grow, because he needed some change in his life…but it was mostly for the water bender who had come to love his dark black hair.

"I am pretty sure you don't need me to teach you fire bending anymore," said Zuko who had a towel around his neck, whipping the sweat from his eyes, "you've mastered all the elements, and yet you still ask me to teach you?"

Aang looked up at his friend, running his fingers through his wet hair and said, "Just because I can be in the Avatar State, doesn't mean I can't learn more from you. I need to learn as much as I can, even if I have already been taught it." He put on a crooked smile which only seemed to amuse Zuko all the more. Zuko knew Aang wanted to learn more, but it was mostly because he wanted to be distracted as well.

Zuko looked down at Aang who was now in his meditative state, breathing in and out slowly. As Zuko looked down, he could tell Aang was starting to tone up on his body more and more everyday. He knew that was something he needed to do himself, but was a little too busy trying to run a nation. Zuko breathed out, and sat next to Aang as he began to meditate with him. After about an hour of being in the blistering heat, Zuko looked at Aang, whose face was calm and focused.

"You know you can't avoid her forever." Said Zuko, who decided to uncross his legs and lay down on the cement. Aang didn't change his position, but kept breathing in and out.

Finally, Aang spoke, "I have no idea who you are talking about." Zuko got back up and looked at Aang. Whatever happened at those rocks where Aang took down Ozai, he had changed…for the worst.

Zuko spoke up even louder at his friend, "The hell you don't! I see the way you look at her Aang, especially when she's not watching. I see how much pain you are in whenever she is no more than five feet from you." Zuko had to get his point across to Aang, that he knew that his love for the young water bender was tearing him apart. But Aang still sat motionless as he listened to what Zuko had to say.

"She is turning fifteen soon Aang! The age of a women who starts thinking about marriage, and being with other men who actually 'want' her!" As Zuko looked at Aang, he could see the young air benders jaw line tighten up, and noticed Aang squeezing his hands into a tight ball. Zuko knew he had his attention now, and kept on pressing matter.

"How much longer do you think she is going to hold out on you? She cares for you, and yet you treat her as if she has some kind of disease!" Zuko was yelling at him now, and he still sat motionless on the cement.

Finally after a few seconds, Aang opened his eyes and looked over at Zuko, trying to find the right words to say to him. As Aang struggled with the words he was about to say, he spoke in a deep voice, "I never asked her to wait for me. I don't…care what she does. She can marry another guy for all I care" now Aang's voice was getting higher, "and you know what, she could get married today and I wouldn't care one bit!" As he was able to spit out those words, he fell onto the cement hitting his head first, not caring about the throbbing pain that was now there.

Zuko looked at his miserable friend, and could see that this was something he had practiced saying to himself over and over again. But it still wasn't enough to convince him of anything that changed the way Aang felt about Katara. Zuko sighed, got up from his resting spot, and dusted off the dirt that was on him. As he turned as walked away, he stopped, turned his head sideways and said, "If you didn't care about her, then why are you always screaming her name in your sleep?" With that, Zuko walked off leaving Aang in his thoughts.

Aang laid on the floor for hours that day, just closing his eyes and feeling the heat of the hot sun on his skin. Ever since his fight with Katara, he had been having nightmares about her. Every dream was different, in one Katara was killed because he couldn't defeat Ozai in time, another was Katara marrying a water tribe man who looked far more handsome than he ever would, another was where Katara told him that she didn't love him anymore, and that it was time they went their separate ways, and the scariest one was when she blood bended him, causing him enough pain to throw himself off a cliff and plummet to his death.

There were other dreams, but those were the ones Aang found himself waking up to a cold sweat, and could never fall back to sleep for the rest of that night. Aang ran his hand through his damp hair one more time, before air bending himself back up to his feet. As hot as it was, Aang needed to dip himself into some cold water, to clear his mind, and he knew just where to go.

It was only a couple of miles outside the palace, but it was a place where he could be alone with his thoughts, and the weight of the world around him would vanish. As he headed towards the water, he heard a grunting sound. Instantly, Aang dove into the bushes, and peaked through the leaves to find a young woman in white water garments. Aang knew that body from anywhere. The way she was flawless and graceful with her water bending, and the fact that Katara was the only other person who knew about this place. He could tell she had been there for hours practicing, due to the deep scratch marks on the rocks. Aang was still so fascinated at the way she could bend water. It was like watching a goddess dancing in his presence.

He remembered the first time she fought Master Pakku, trying to prove to him that she was worthy enough to learn how to fight. Which was absolutely true, and Aang was so happy that destiny had smiled on her that day, as she learned that her Gran Gran was suppose to marry him. Which they did eventually, but it just amazed Aang at how lost love can sometimes find its way back through the future of others. Just like when the Monks were killed, a new love was formed in Katara that drew Aang to be closer to her. He missed those days, when he was just a goofy kid with a crush on an older girl…a girl who he had fallen in love with after penguin sledding with him.

Aang smiled at the thoughts of the past flooding him, and he continued to watch Katara with much curiosity. He loved the way her body flowed with the water, and how the blue in the water made Katara's skin look even darker. Her long chocolate hair was sticking to her skin, and Aang wanted to do nothing more than to move the hair, and kiss her soft body. He longed to run his hand through her long hair, and taste the inside of her mouth. His body soon began to hurt again as his thought wondered from her lips, to her shoulders, stomach, and even her legs. The pain felt like something was burning him on the inside, and there was only one way to extinguish it…but he would never do it.

Aang looked back up to see that Katara was no longer there at the water pool. He looked around right and left before standing up, and walked over to the water. He stepped into the spot where Katara had practiced, and felt the wetness of the green grass between his toes. He could see every foot print she made while she practiced.

He then looked over at the rock that she was hitting, thinking to himself, "If rocks couldn't bleed, Katara found a way to prove them wrong." He ran his hand over the rock gently, and then he felt like something was about to hit him. Instantly he drew up water, froze it in front of himself and heard something hit it. Aang realized that Katara had thrown five icicles at him. If she hadn't have trained him the way she did, that would have been the last thing he ever saw.

He bent the ice back into water, and with that Katara attacked him, throwing everything she had at him. Aang formed into the octopus that she had taught him from what seemed like so long ago. He knew Katara had been practicing just as hard as he was with the others, but she had something that scared him even more. Anger and pain.

This went on for hours, as the sun started to get lower in the mountains. Aang knew she wasn't going to quit until she had him, and surrender to her will, letting the angry water bender do whatever she wanted to him. The first wave of water was horrible, as Aang choked on the water that came crashing down on him. Trying to catch his breath before another wave hit him with a thousand times more force. Aang began to choke on the water that entered into his mouth without permission. Katara picked him up with the water, and brought him down, making a bodies imprint on the grass. She then twisted the water around his right ankle, and skipped him across the water, making him land in a bush of thorns. Aang yelled in pain, but still wouldn't fight back, until she got everything out. She brought the water back to Aang, grabbing him by the waist and slammed him against the rock that she had cut, and froze his wrist and ankles to it.

Aang could see how tired Katara was, but he knew this was only the beginning of her wrath. He could have easily broken the ice and escaped, but whatever pain she was going through, he knew he had the same storm inside of him. Whatever was coming, he would suffer the consequences. In a weird way, though, Aang actually enjoyed being thrown around like a rag doll by Katara. It was the first time in what seemed like an eternity, that they had connected through water again.

Katara just stood there as she looked at the young boy who had hurt her with more pain and suffering than she could ever fathom. She could feel the tear coming down on her face, but whipped them away as she turned her back on him. She knew he wouldn't leave her this time, especially after him giving up in the end. But Katara wasn't finished with him yet…she wanted answers. She looked up in the sky, and could see that rain and thunder was approaching, but she didn't care.

Katara turned back to see Aang's chin was on his chest, with his eyes closed as he breathed in and out slowly. It wasn't until she looked closely at Aang, that he wasn't wearing a shirt. She could see where the thorns had pricked him and that blood was dripping down from where the thorn bushes had cut him. But he didn't pay any heed to them as he continued looking at the grass. Katara was still mad at him, but it began to soften as she looked at Aang's body, just like she did before on the blimp. From his six pack to his rugged chest, and even to the lips that she still longed to kiss again. She shook her head getting back on track as to the real reason why she attacked him. She needed to tell him how sorry she was for hurting him the way she did after that stupid play.

Katara walked over in front of Aang, about an arms distance away from him and said, "I'm sorry I attacked you…but you left me not choice Aang." As Aang heard his name from her lips, his chest began to tighten on him, and all of his muscles flexed.

Katara noticed how all of the sudden his body tensed up as she said his name, but she didn't care to tease him right now. It was time to get some kind of closure. "Why are you acting like this? Are you angry about what I said at Ember Island?"

Aang's head lifted up as he looked into her beautiful sapphire eyes, which were now burning with pain and questions. He looked back down at the grass, and said, "No…I've come to accept the answer you gave me. And it's okay." Aang couldn't believe at how well he said that without hesitation, but he had to keep reminding himself of that every time he was near her.

Katara couldn't help but tear up at the words Aang had spoke, and it took every ounce of strength for Katara not to lift Aang's chin up and prove to him how wrong she was back then. But she kept focus on the matter at hand. "Aang, look at me, please." Her voice was so soft and velvety, that it had bended him to her will. He looked up again into the sapphire eyes that were now warm and sympathetic towards him.

"Aang", she said again that made his body tense up, "I didn't meant what I said back there. Yes, I was confused, but it was never about how I felt about you. I was scared to lose you again." Aang knew he should stop her, because it was he who should be apologizing to her, but if he interrupted her, he might get thrown back into the thorn bushes, so he instead waited and listened. The wind started to pick up a little, blowing Katara's hair in his face, as the temperature started to drop a few degrees.

She continued, "I was scared that if I lost you, I would never be able to find anyone else like you ever again. It was selfish I know, but…in my heart I knew that if you knew how I felt, you would be willing to put me first instead of the world." Not that the idea of that was bad at all, but Katara knew she wasn't that important to him

This time Aang jumped in as he looked deep into her soul, and spoke "You're right, I would have." he paused, sighed, "And I still did anyways." Katara looked at him and saw the same face he showed when he told her that he was hurting again.

Katara couldn't believe how honest Aang was being right now, but she decided to press him harder for the real answer she wanted. "And yet you treat me as if I am a snake that bit you! And now you are afraid to even go near me!" Her voice was started to yell at the young boy who just kept looking at her, finally realizing the pain he was causing her. It then started to sprinkle down on both of them, neither caring at this point.

"Ever since Ember Island, you have been distant from me! You wouldn't even let me heal you when you woke up! Katara turned away and ran her right hand through her hair as she composed herself, turned back and said, "I am so, so, sorry for what I said, and for running away from you on that balcony." The rain had started to pick up a little, and still neither of them paid heed to it.

Aang wished he could tell her the real reason why he kept his distance from her, how he suffered every single second of everyday. And how he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and just listen to the sound of her breathing that had become lullaby to him while they were traveling. However, he would never tell her the truth, but he let her say whatever she wanted to say so that she didn't have to suffer anymore.

It had become silent again between them, so Katara headed to the water and placed her hands in it, turning her hands into a neon blue glow. She walked back slowly over to Aang, who had put his chin back on his chest. This time, Katara lifted his chin up, as he slowly opened his gray eyes to hers. She placed her hands over his cuts that the thorns had declared upon his body, and began to heal them. Aang watched as the young woman placed her hands on every cut, and how she did it with the most care in the world.

Once she healed every cut on him, his blood became mixed with the rain and continued to travel down to his Fire Nation pants. Katara released the water, but still held her hand against his chest. Aang loved how her touch always had an effect on him, and that it made his pulse heat up his entire body. Their faces were inches apart. They could feel their hot breath on each other as the rain continued to drizzle on them. Katara leaned slowly into him closing the distance, but Aang turned his head away with great pain. Katara took a few steps back, placed her right hand at the bottom of her neck, while the other held her elbow. She breathed in and out for a few seconds, understanding that he didn't want her anymore.

"…forgive me, Aang." He looked up as she spoke those words, and saw tears streaming down on her face. She wasn't apologizing for almost kissing him, but it was for what happened after the play. She truly believed it was her fault that caused him to be so distant from her. Aang couldn't take seeing her in this much pain. He broke the ice that bound him, reached for Katara and he pulled her into his chest. Even though she was still a bit taller than him, she didn't mind being against Aang like this. It had been the first time in what felt like years, the he was able to feel her skin against his. Katara placed her clenched hand on his chest and began to cry. She gave up on being strong as Aang began to gently stroke her hair, causing her legs to give out. He caught her, and held her all the more tighter, as he placed his chin over her head. He had forgotten how light she was whenever he held her.

The rain was getting heavier now, but neither was still willing to surrender to its will just yet. She continued to cry, digging her hands into Aang's hard chest, in which he didn't mind in the least bit. Aang bent his head down to the left of Katara's ear, and said "You don't have to apologize for anything Katara." As he spoke those words, he stroked her damp hair again, making Katara's legs weak, but Aang caught her again and tightened his grip around her waist this time, feeling the soft, perfect curves that fit into his hands.

Katara loved the way he held her, because it made her tremble at his mercy. She didn't like being overpowered by anyone, but Aang was the only exception. She continued to softly cry on him, and eventually the tears stopped. After embracing her like this for a long while, Aang got the courage to start running his fingers up and down her spine, feeling her heart beating faster than his. He trailed his fingers up to her top garment, and slowly back down, she moaned against him.

He continued tickling her skin, placing his head against her hair which only made it harder for Katara to concentrate. But instead of thinking, she decided to retaliate. She began to scan her nose along his neck and jaw line, barely brushing her lips against his skin. And if that wasn't enough to drive him crazy, Katara opened her palms on his chest and slid her hands down to Aang's stomach, feeling the scars that were left behind from his battle, causing Aang to tighten his grip around.

She heard him gulp quietly as her hands began to roam his body. Her arms then went under his arms that were still wrapped around her waist. She drew her hands up his tattoos and gripped his muscles between his shoulder blades, causing him to moan loudly. Katara could only smile at her small victory.

"I can't do this", Aang told himself. He didn't want this to end; he wanted every part of her body memorized on him. He wanted more and more of her, and she wasn't making it easier for him. Somehow finding the strength to stop, he let his hands go, and grabbed Katara's shoulders as he gently pushed her back. He was just as shocked as she was that he was able push her away from him, and instantly he regretted doing so. Having his hands on Katara made things worse, so he stepped back. Breathing in and out, as felt the rain on his hair, trickle down his face.

"I'm sorry Katara…but the only thing I can offer you is friendship." Aang knew he was breaking her heart again, but she had no idea the effect she had on him. It only made it worse not to fight back into her arms, but he couldn't break his promise…especially after having something so special in front of him.

"Please Katara," he said looking at her with pleading eyes, "I need you in my life, but I can't go past this." He looked back down at puddles that were being made at his feet, seeing his reflection. He looked so exhausted, and his eyes had purple underneath them, and yet for the first time, he was a little happy.

Katara ran to Aang and hugged him tightly. She could tell he was taken aback by this reaction, but for once she could have him back in her life again, and she would continue to go after him, because she wanted no one else to hold her the way he did.

"On one condition." said Katara as she looked into his eyes.

"What?" asked Aang curiously.

"We can at least do this when we see each other from now on."

Aang smiled all the way up to his eyes, liking this condition. "Done. But I think I would much rather do this when it's not raining a storm."

"What, you don't like the way I look in the rain?" asked Katara playfully.

"No!" his reaction was a little too quick, and he began to blush trying to find the right words to say, "It's just that…umm…well of course you…I…" he couldn't control his mouth all of the sudden.

"Yea, I thought so." Katara winked at him and started walking to her clothes. "Race you back to the palace!" and with that Katara ran as fast as she could laughing.

"Hey! No fair!" yelled Aang. He knew he could catch her, but instead he just watched for a second and listened to her laugh echo back towards him. It was such a beautiful melody to his ears, that it made his get goose bumps have goose bumps. He closed his eyes, breathed in the rain, and chased after the woman he loved.

**Okay, so let me know what you think about it. I hope i was able to deliever a good Kataang moment. Hope you like the fight between them, and the sexual tension that left you wanting more. Im sorry to say this, but i may not be able to put another one up till Monday. Im sorry but i have to work all day Saturday and Sunday. Again, if you want to keep giving me advice, or ideas for chapters, feel free to do so, im open to anything. Thank you again, please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, again i apologize for taking so long, so i hope i can satisfy some of you today. And i am also sorry that ive dragged this drama out as long as i have with Aang's promise, and how he is taking it a little too far. But don't worry, it's about to end soon. **

**Also, a shout out to all of my viewers, THANK YOU! You guys keep me inspired to continue writing for you, and that makes me happy. And also, to some of you out there who have put me down as your favorite author, or favorite story, i am flattered that you would consider putting me in that category! But reviews/comments are very important to me. It tells me if i am doing my job right, or if i should stop in my tracks right now. And i do read them ALL! Again, thanks to all of those who have been with me since chapter one, and some who have decided to join in.**

**Again, I am sorry if my grammaring sucks in this chapter and previous chapters, but i hope you will look past that and enjoy the story. And just to let you guys know, my internet is out, so i can't update as quickly as id like tp. Im at Branes and Nobles right now, putting up this update for you because i promised a Monday update. **

**I**** don't own Avatar, I'll leave that to other guys who made the show awesome. And now back to the story!**

Aang had been staring up at the golden ceiling ever since he got out of the rain and walked Katara back to her room. He felt exhausted, but his mind was spinning around like a tornado. He could still feel her hands rubbing against him, and his body had not cooled down since then. Aang felt like he was flying, but without his gliders help. This was all so new to him, and yet, it felt like he had done these things before. He was only 13, as of today, and couldn't get Katara out of his mind. Yes, he had thought of her a lot when they were traveling together, but now, now it went beyond that, and it scared him.

And the one thing Aang knew he wasn't good, was understanding girls. Especially older girls. Katara probably had far more experience than he ever did in his entire 113 years of living. He remembered the way she looked at Jet the first time she ever saw him. He wondered if she ever saw him that way, or if she ever compared Jet to him? Granted Jet was an idiot for what he did, but despite that, he was everything she wanted in a guy. Jet was twice Aang's size, which he knew Katara liked in a guy, as well as dark, and had shaggy hair. Aang wondered if there had ever been a short Avatar. And if there wasn't, he would probably be the first one ever.

Aang couldn't stand it anymore with these thoughts of Jet running through his mind; he got out of bed, put on his Air Nomad clothes that Zuko had found for him, and walked out of his room. He stomach was growling like crazy, so he decided to head to the kitchen for a midnight snack. It was strange; Aang had been eating a lot more lately, sometimes even more than Sokka did. He figured it was because he was training so hard everyday, but even on the days he didn't, he still ate like a platypus bear.

When Aang entered into the kitchen, he saw that someone had decided to go shopping, as he saw the pile of organized food on the table. Aang went to the table, grabbed a ball of lettuce, three bananas, two tomatoes, one mango, four apples, and headed to the eating area.

After he was done, he still felt hungry. He went back and got some black berries, nuts, an entire box of strawberries, and a loaf of bread, thinking it would satisfy him…but it didn't. Aang ate whatever was left from the table, leaving only the meat. At long last his stomach was finally full. He laid back in the eating area and slept without a care in the world with a happy stomach.

ooooooooOoooooooooOooooo

The next morning when everyone started to wake up, they all headed down for breakfast, and saw that Sokka had already started on the meat and that there was nothing left of anything from yesterday.

"Sokka, did you eat everything?" yelled Katara. Suki and she had spent hours trying to find the right food for everyone, including Aang, and over night it was _all_ gone!

Sokka stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth, saying "Are you kidding me? All I found was this pile of meat on the table, and I thought, hey, why let such a delicious thing go to waste, so yea I ate it!"

Suki was embarrassed at her boyfriend, but still kind of smiled at the thought of Sokka never wanting to eat meat every single second. "Wait, what do you mean this was all that was left?"

Toph came in, sat down, and started to eat with Sokka, not caring who ate the boring food. But she already knew that only one person could have. She smiled at herself, wanting to see what would happen when they found a certain air bender.

"Yea!" yelled Sokka, "I walked in, and all I found was this!" He looked back over at his sister and his girlfriend, "I thought you two got more than this? You were gone for a couple of hours?" Sokka stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth, almost choking this time. Katara knew her brother didn't like anything else food wise, but he always proved that he could bite off more than chew on.

Zuko had just gotten down stairs as he heard the arguing going around the gang. Mai had walked down with Zuko hand in hand, wondering what all of the fuss was about. But after a few seconds, she yawned and got bored.

"How is that even possible?" yelled Katara, "Suki and I got enough food to feed the town, and now it's gone!"

Aang woke up to the yelling that was going on in the next room. As he got up to see what was going on, he belched the loudest and longest burp he had ever done, knocking himself down due to his air bending. All of the sudden the next room to him was completely quiet and the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

oooooooOooooooOoooooo

Katara continued to argue with Sokka, but was soon silenced by a loud burp that would have woken up the dead. Katara ran towards the noise in the eating area, with everyone behind her. As she came into the door frame, she saw Aang seated on the ground with crumbs, apple cores, brown banana peelings, leafs of strawberries, and cracked nut shells all around him. Katara's mouth hung open as she saw Aang blush at everyone who was now starring at him in shock.

"Aang…did…did you eat _everything_?" said Katara who was just as confused as anyone else. Aang's eyes got big as he realized the evidence around his body, and he knew he couldn't deny what he did, but he had to think of something.

"Don't forget Twinkle Toes, I can tell when you are lying. Your hearts already beating like crazy and you haven't even _tried_ to lie!" said Toph who was still in the kitchen eating the last bit of seal jerky.

Aang looked back at everyone else, "I…ugh, I umm…I got a little hungry last night…and had a snack, or two." He smiled his goofy smile laughing nervously through his teeth.

"I'll say!" said Zuko, "It looks like you had more than _just_ a snack!"

Mai couldn't help but giggle at the Aang, whose blush had become even more noticeable. Zuko looked over at Mai, and smiled at her. He loved it when she laughed, it seemed so rare when he even saw her smile.

"Aang, that was suppose to be for our dinner tonight! And you ate everything?" said Katara who was now a little upset at the young boy, but not angry as she would have been if it was Sokka.

"I'm sorry! I just got _so_ hungry last night and I couldn't stop eating! Aang looked over at everyone, and could only see Mai still smiling at him. "On the plus side" he added, "none of it went to waste…" he smiled again, but still there was no movement from anyone.

All of the sudden they heard Iroh's deep voice from behind, yelling "Hey, where did all of the food go?" Everyone looked at Iroh, who was looking over at Sokka and said "Did you eat _all _of it, or did the food try and eat you again?"

Zuko began to laugh at what his uncle had said, remembering the last time they were in his tea shop. Sokka had devoured everything in plain sight, leaving nothing for their guest. Toph started busting out laughing too, and soon everyone was laughing at Sokka, giving Aang a break for a second.

"Hey, I did what I had to, to make sure we could all live! You should have rewarded me with the highest of specialized medals Iroh!" shouted Sokka. Everyone continued laughing, almost with in tears now. "And let's not forget the true criminal this morning!" he yelled, turning his head toward Aang.

Iroh looked over at Aang, and saw that everything that was there last night, besides the meat, was now all over the floor. He looked back Aang, and began to laugh his jolly laugh. Everyone didn't understand why until he said, "I knew Avatar's had _big_ appetites, but I didn't think any of them could ever out eat me!"

This time, Mai was the first one to laugh, and soon everyone else joined in again. Unfortunately for Sokka, he was laughing so hard that when he leaned back on his seat, he fell backwards with his feet hanging in the air. Aang found it to be hilarious as did the others. After a while of laughing their heads off, everyone got quiet as they tried to catch their breaths. But it was soon interrupted as Aang's stomach started growling again.

"Aww man!" said Aang as he covered his stomach with his left hand, trying to hold the noise in, but it only made them giggle at him again. This had been the most he had laughed since he came back, and he hoped that this was how it was going to be for the rest of his life.

ooooooOooooooOoooooo

As for Aang's punishment, he had to go out, and buy all of the food that he ate, which wasn't a dreadful punishment to him. He helped Katara clean up his mess, and then headed up to his room to change. He put on his Fire Nation pants and shoes, and wore an old red shirt with the long sleeves to cover his blue tattoos, so no one could recognize him as the Avatar. He grabbed his black cloak, and put on his Fire Nation headband, that he still kept after his "secret" dance party. As he put on his cloak, he walked out of the house, and found someone on the sidewalk sitting and waiting for him.

Iroh got up, and walked over towards the young air bender. "I figured you could use my help, after all, I know the food market better than anyone else." He smile at his little joke.

Aang smiled back, and bowed to him, "I would be honored if you could join me Master Iroh." Iroh titled his head down as well, and together they both walked off in silence.

They had been shopping for hours, trying to find the right food, and even when they did find it, they were sold out, so they had to go somewhere else. Katara told him to make sure to get everything that he ate, and to get triple the amount. He guessed she now knew what to expect with Sokka, and now himself with the stomach of two grown men.

Iroh had been silent the entire time, which Aang didn't understand why if he came and didn't want to talk to him about something. However, Aang remembered how smart of a man he was, and how he had good wisdom when you were in a tough situation.

Aang didn't ask any questions, unless it was food related. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, they had everything they needed for Katara's meal tonight.

"Would you be willing to accompany me to my tea shop Aang?" said Iroh who was carrying seven sacks of food, but never looked at him as he asked the question. Aang nodded his head, and followed Iroh. When they found his shop, and entered into it, he realized that it was empty.

"How about some calming Jasmine tea?" said Iroh who smiled at the word tea. Again, Aang nodded and smiled too. He watched Iroh make the tea, showing much love to it. Iroh always said that the key to great tea is love…and he was right. He also added a green liquid to their teas, which Aang had never seen before, but disregarded it from his mind.

Iroh brought the tea out, and sat on the floor with his legs crossed. Aang joined with Iroh as he began to pour them their cups. Aang took the tea from Iroh's hand as he handed it to him, and drank it with urgency. He didn't realized how thirsty he was, until he drank two and a half cups instantly. There was a weird taste to the tea, but it was still really good. Iroh watched the air bender drink his tea, and began to smile at him. Iroh closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

Aang didn't understand Iroh's intention of bringing him hear to only drink tea and meditate, however, he did as the Master did. It was about half an hour later when Aang started to become light headed, and his body started to tingle all of the sudden. Iroh opened his eyes, knowing that it was time to begin.

"How do you feel Aang?"

"I'm not sure…I feel very light and tingly"

"Mmm-hmm. It's probably from the liquid that I poured into the tea. It's a very special plant that we would use on our enemies."

Aang panicked a little, but he knew Iroh wasn't going to harm him, but the thought still lingered. "Are you going to kill me?" asked Aang, who couldn't believe that he, just said that out loud. It was like he had no control over his mouth all of the suddern.

Iroh laughed at his comment, and said "No my boy. I put a special plant in _your_ tea, that is harmless to anyone. We used it in order for our enemies to tell us the truth."

"But why would you do that to me?"

"Because, Aang, you need to hear the real reason why you are acting the way you are with Katara. Zuko has told me that you keep denying what is there in front of you, and has asked me to help you, since he can't." He inhaled and exhaled ready to start with the interrogation.

"So, when did this begin?"

"It was during my fight with Ozai, and I was losing…I made a promise to Yue the Moon Spirit."

"Ah, yes…such a kind young girl and brave I might add. What did you promise her?"

Aang couldn't believe that he was telling the truth out loud, but whatever his mind thought, he said. "I promised to never go after Katara if I won, and lived to see her again."

Iroh was a bit surprised that he would make such a ridiculous promise, especially if it was something that could work against him. "Did you not believe that you could beat my brother Ozai?"

"After what the lion turtle told me, I knew I had a fighting chance, even if I wasn't in the Avatar state. And I had to face him no matter what…especially to save everyone I had come to know and care about."

"Including Katara?"

Without hesitation, Aang said, "Especially Katara. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Because I have been watching you very closely for the past few weeks since Zuko asked for my help, and I've been trying to understand why you aren't willing to be with the one that you love. A man doesn't do that unless he made a deal with the Devil, or a promise that he can't keep. Obviously, it was a promise you can't keep."

"_Why is everyone watching me now all of the sudden!"_ he said thinking to himself, but instead he said it out loud.

Iroh answered, "Because they are all concerned for you."

Aang's eyes remained closed as he tried to pry them open, but he couldn't. He then yelled, "But I have kept my promise! I haven't done anything to break it, as much as I want to!"

"Then why would you make a promise that would only cause you so much pain?" asked Iroh as he sipped a different cup of tea.

Aang's heart began to beat so loud, that he swore Iroh could hear it. He began to sweat as he tried to figure out the answer to the riddle. "Why did you give me this tea? I would have told you the truth!

"I doubt that Aang. You wouldn't tell any of your friends about what you did. This liquid that I gave you tells me the truth…but more importantly, you tell yourself the truth as well."

"I don't understand." Aang truly didn't know what he meant about himself not knowing the truth behind his promise.

"Sometimes, our minds deny the things we don't want to acknowledge inside of our hearts. Like now, with Katara." Iroh had always admired Aang and Katara's love for each other, and how it had grown over time with their friendship.

Iroh continued, "You said, you knew you had a fighting chance, and yet still chose to make this ridiculous oath!"

"I did it because I was losing! I did it because I had to do what was necessary!"

"No Aang, you did it because, if you won, you knew that you would have to deal with her. But my real question is why are you afraid of this? You weren't willing to give her up when you had to, in order to go into the Avatar State, and now, you did it because it was _necessary_?"

"I…I don't know!"

"Yes you do. So I ask again, why are you afraid?"

"Because…I..." Aang knew Iroh was going to get the answer out of him eventually, but it was like prying a nail out of wood, with only your fingers. "I can't answer that question!" he yelled.

This was the hardest person Iroh had ever dealt with. They had been going on about this for about an hour, and the tea was beginning to rub off. He had to get the answer out, so that Aang could know. He knew he had denied it so much that he hid it from himself.

"Yes you can Aang! Stop lying to yourself! You need to hear the answer out loud! Why are you afraid? Why can't you tell the truth? What is it about Katara that frightens you?"

Aang could feel the sweat dripping down his body, as Iroh asked his questions without taking a breath. But his mind spoke out anyways, "Because I'm afraid of losing her!"

Iroh didn't buy it, and continued to press it, "You have already won the greatest war, and are now a fully realized Avatar, and you fear losing her? Why did you make that promise?"

"Because I'm not good enough for her!"

"Wrong again. What is the reason for your promise?"

Aang began to tear up as he finally answered his question. "Because I'm afraid that she will reject me again, just like she did all of those other times when I tried to show her how much I cared!" He tightened his hands in a tight ball, remembering those moments. "I kissed her before the invasion, and she turned away from me and didn't say anything. And again at Ember Island, she told me that she was confused. So I kissed her, hoping to clear her mind, but she instead ran away! I couldn't take it anymore!"

Iroh sighed, nodding at his answer. "So, you made this promise in order to keep yourself away from the pain of rejection, knowing that you were going to win?"

Aang sighed as he put his head down in shame, "Yes."

"Love is hard when you are young, Aang." Iroh said in a very calm tone.

Aang smiled to himself, remembering that those were the exact words of Avatar Roku. "But it doesn't mean that you have to suffer." He continued, "She wants you, and I know that she cares for you too."

"How can I be sure of it this time? All of those other times I thought I knew, but I was wrong every time! And besides, it doesn't matter anymore. I've lost her for good now."

Aang started to slowly feel that his body was regaining some control back, but didn't know how long it truly could last.

"But there is _always _a loophole young Avatar." said Iroh, who couldn't believe that Aang hadn't figured it out yet. The promise was that _he_ couldn't pursue her, but if _she_ was the one who went after him, then he would not break his promise.

This made Aang's eyes pop open, with an enthusiastic "How?"

Iroh began to collect all of his tea supplies, stood up, and said, "Just as you learned that fire bending has two sides, so does this situation."

Aang remembered Zuko saying that his Uncle's wisdom didn't always make sense, and he was right.

"And besides," he continued, "you are the Avatar. I'm sure you will figure it out when the time comes." With that said, Iroh walked away leaving Aang to ponder on what he said.

They gathered up their supplies; Iroh locked up the shop, and the two of them left in silence. Aang was so preoccupied with his thoughts, now that Iroh had helped him out. He couldn't believe he made such a ridiculous vow, all because he didn't want to be rejected again.

He then tried to decipher what Iroh meant about fire having two sides…Aang learned first hand that fire is dangerous and wild, but also eventually learned from "The Masters" that there is life in a flame as well. _It's like a little heartbeat _as he once said.

The answer was right there in front of him, but was he too blind to see the obvious answer that Iroh had already figured out. Aang knew that once an Avatar made a promise to a spirit, it would have dire consequences if he broke it. But what if Yue was trying to show him the way around it? Could he truly be with Katara, and not have to suffer anymore? _"It's right there!"_ he said to himself. Aang didn't even realize that they had arrived back in the palace, until Iroh put a hand on his shoulder making him come back to reality.

"The tea should have passed through you by now, so you don't have to worry about speaking the truth out to anyone." This made Aang smile, knowing that he wouldn't be speaking his mind now.

"I hope you will forgive me for what I did Aang, but it was I thought it was necessary for you to see the reason behind the reason." Iroh said in a fatherly way. Aang looked up at the wise man, whose eyes showed that he wanted to see love triumph, and that made him happy for what Iroh did to him.

"Who am I to judge what _The Dragon of the West_ does? Obviously, his motives had good intentions, and it did indeed help me."

Iroh smiled, patted him on the shoulder and walked in on the gang who was just sitting around waiting for them to arrive. And of course Sokka was first to blurt out, "FOOD! At long last!"

Aang walked in behind Iroh who placed all of sacks of food to the side, walking off to the sofa, and plopped himself on it. With Aang carrying eight bags, he decided to air bended the food back to where the kitchen was, now that no one could see him from the outside.

As he walked into the kitchen, he saw Katara cooking in her Fire Nation outfit. It was as one of his favorites. He remembered the first time she wore it, it made him blush so bad that when Katara looked at him, it only deepened causing him to be nervous.

Katara looked back to the sound of air approaching her, and knew it was Aang. "Hey" she said with a smile, "did you get everything I needed?"

"Yes, and some other things that Iroh suggested too. I hope that is okay?"

"Of course it is. I love to try and cook with new food!"

Katara helped Aang out with the bags and began unpacking. Soon she was brewing up a feast for them, with Aang's help. She looked back at him, noticing him making his famous cake that everyone adored. But there was something different about Aang…she couldn't put her finger on it. She looked up and down at him, trying to figure what it was.

Aang all of the sudden could feel her eyes on him, but continued to cook his ancient cakes that Monk Gyatso had taught him, remembering that the key ingredient was in the gooey center.

Katara walked over toward him, grabbing his shoulders, and turning him around in front of her to see what it was. Aang turned around without fighting her, and looked down at her confused face.

"What?" Aang asked.

And that's when it hit her. For once she was looking _up_ into his eyes, noticing that her arms were at a slight upper angle with his shoulders instead of them being straight. "You've gotten taller!" she said loudly.

As she spoke the words, he too noticed a change in their heights. "That's impossible! Just last night…" Aang didn't want to bring up that night up again just yet, "I mean, yesterday I wasn't! There is no way that I am today!"

"Yes you are!" Katara said in a higher and happier voice.

Toph had all of the sudden walked in as Katara said this, and asked, "So what are you two arguing about again this time?"

"Aang's taller!" Katara said again. The blind earth bender went to Aang's side, looked at him, as if really seeing him for the first time, and punched him on the arm.

Aang stumbled a little bit and yelled, "Oww! What was that for?"

Toph looked back at Katara and said, "Eh, I guess _some_ things don't change whenever you hit puberty." Toph could feel Katara giving her an evil look, but didn't seem to care. She walked to the table, picked a peach from the table, and walked out of there whistling a happy tune.

"You know that's her way of saying that you have gotten taller." said Katara, trying to cheer him up.

"Somehow I doubt that, but I'll take _your_ word for it." Aang smile up to his eyes.

Katara got on her tip toes and hugged Aang around his neck tightly, placing her face on his hair. Aang wrapped his arms just a little higher than her hips, and leaned his chin on her shoulders, smelling the spices of food on her.

Katara let go of him after a few minutes of them staying in that position, looked up in his gray eyes saying with a smile, "I could get used to this."

Aang knew she was talking about him being taller, so he asked in a sad tone, "Was that ever a problem for you?"

Katara was shocked at the question. She had never heard him ask something like that before, but she could tell it was something that he had been concerned about for a while. She then shook her head, "No. Maybe a long time ago that was a big deal to me, but your only 12, and you have plenty of time to grow. I'll just have to wait." She gave Aang a wink for encouragement.

"Well actually I am 13 now." he confessed.

"What? Since when?"

Katara became sad at his remark. She never _once_ asked about his birthday before, nor did he ever tell her. But it still didn't seem fair that he knew hers, and she just happen to find out about his today.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Aang shrugged his shoulders, "I guess it never really occurred to me to tell anyone. It's just a birthday." Plus Aang had a lot on his mind lately, and a birthday just didn't seem all that special to him over his years of growing up.

"But we could have celebrated it today! We would have thrown you a party, given you presents, and just have an Aang day!" Katara noticed Aang's confused face, as she mentioned these things to him. It was as if he was coming out of the ice again, and seeing the world in different colors.

"Umm" was all Aang could say at this moment. He knew people did these things, but the Monks didn't seem to make it a major holiday, as Katara was making it out to be.

"Didn't you _ever_ celebrate a birthday before?"

Aang shook his head, "No. It wasn't a big deal to the Monks I suppose. Yes they told us the day we were born, but never once did we celebrate any. We had days of celebration because it was related to the history of air bending, but a day to celebrate ourselves…we didn't do that."

This made Katara even sadder, hearing that a 12 or a 13 year old boy never got to celebrate his birthday. It just seemed _so_ wrong to a kid. She herself always enjoyed her birthdays. Her dad would cook her her favorite dinner, her brother Sokka would always get hurt somehow on that day, and they would give her gifts. Not fancy gifts, but things that were her mothers. And her Gran Gran would tell her stories of her mom, and how she had such a gentle and loving spirit just as she did. To Katara, when they celebrated her birthday, she felt closer to her mom, knowing that she was watching and laughing at the stories they would tell.

"Is everything okay?" Aang asked, causing Katara to snap out of her old memories.

"Wha-? Yeah, I'm great! And I've decided to throw you a birthday party!"

Aang looked at her, and tried to rattle through his brain to give her an excuse, but she beat him to the punch, crossing her arms, and said, "And you can't get out of it either!"

He he looked down, at Katara and sighed in defeat. He pondered for a moment and said, "Only on a couple of conditions."

Katara didn't say anything, but just listened. "One," said Aang, "I just want it to be me, you, and everyone else in this house. No celebration in my honor with the Fire Nation. Two, no gifts, it's not necessary to me. And three, if we are going to eat _my_ favorite foods, then Sokka had better eat before." Aang smiled at his last request, knowing that Sokka wouldn't last but 5 minutes without some kind of meat in his smiled at the young air bender as he made his recommendations, and of course she agreed to his terms knowing that Sokka was going to dread his birthday.

They were soon interrupted when Sokka yelled, "I've been starving all day, and you two are just going to talk and make goo goo eyes at each other while the rest of us suffer?" Sokka then walked out of the kitchen, satisfied that he had kept them from kissing each other. Just the thought of his best friend and his baby sister…kissing…was so disturbing it caused him to lose his appetite. But only for a second.

Katara hadn't realized that she and Aang face were inches from each other, and after what Sokka said, it only made them blush at each other. She stepped back from him, and put the finishing touches to her seal and sea prunes soup, as well as Aang's veggie plate. Aang fixed his cake, by air bending the colorful gooey centers, and started to walk out as he waited for Katara at the door frame.

Once she got by his, he took a step, but a hand caught him by the arm. As he turned around, Katara planted a kiss on his cheek, causing Aang to blush even more. She whispered in his ear "Happy Birthday Aang." and with that, she walked off, smiling at her small victory with Aang.

Aang stood there, frozen in place. Everything that happened last night was now back ten times stronger, and he knew he wasn't going to sleep well again tonight.

"Oh, and Aang?" Katara said, snapping him back into the real world. "I'll need Appa to help me out with this party tomorrow if you don't mind?" But it wasn't a question, but more of a heads up for him. She smiled and walked off. Aang now had a million more questions buzzing around his head, which was something he didn't need at this point.

When Aang finally got control of himself again, he walked in the eating area, where he was this morning, and smiled at the view of his new family. All were stuffing their faces with Katara's delicious meal, and when they saw the two cakes he was carrying, they all went after it was great haste. It was indeed a wonderful dinner, one that any Avatar would have enjoyed. And Aang did indeed.

He ate a little more than he did that morning, happy now knowing he knew the reason why he was acting this way. But more than anything, he was happy that he was finally growing, and that he was finally going to be everything she wanted…until she would turn away from him and run again. This saddened Aang, and the memories with Iroh this afternoon came flooding back into his mind. "_How can I be with her by not breaking my promise? I need to know!"_ he said to himself.

**Okay, im sorry if you were expecting more from Aang and Irohs "talk" but i figured id just make it simple. People make things more complicated than necessary sometime, and that is what Aang was doing. I will have more Kataang in the next chapter...especially with his birthday celebration! Sorry if ive disappointed anyone out there with this chapter, but i hope to do better as i hopefully continue this.**

**Please, please review anyone who reads this, they are valued! Thanks ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so i just realized that my stories have gone from 2,000-7,000 words now. Im sorry if you guys don't like LONG chapters, but I didn't want to stop writing until i found a good spot to stop. So hopefully you will enjoy it anyways. Again, sorry for my grammar in this chapter, i hope it doesn't ruin anything for you.**

**And thank you guys for the reviews! They are definitely inspiring me! A shout out to xXPrettyDisturbedxX and Kimjuni2 who have pretty much been with me since i started and have continued to read my chapters. Also, Bubbleboss1022, Private LL Church, watertribeman, and balseirocharmed, you guys have been honest with your reviews about me, and that's the kind of feedback that i appreciate. And now a shout out to some newbies who have joined! Thank you aangfan and xxICanSeeYouxx, i am glad you guys stumbled onto my stories, and i hope you continue to read them!**

**You guys are all FREAKIN awesome, and again i dont own Avatar. Now back the story!**

The next morning Katara woke up, filling her lungs with the warm summer air that surrounded her. It was going to be a perfect day, and hopefully the next day would be just the same. Katara had talked to everyone, after Aang went to sleep last night, about his birthday party. She told them that they would celebrate it in three days.

oooooOoooooooOooooo

"_Three days?" said Sokka, "Shouldn't we celebrate it the next day? It seems pretty stupid to waste anymore time on this issue."_

_Everyone started to agree with Sokka, telling Katara to do it sooner than that. But Katara had other plans for the next two days, which she didn't want anyone, particularly Sokka, to know about. She decided that they needed to spend some time together and work out going past this _friendship_ deal that she had agreed to._

"_Look," said Katara, "I already told him I was going to throw him a party with just us. He will be expecting it to be the next day, and maybe even the next. It may be possible to surprise him by doing this."_

_This time it was Zuko's turn to speak up, "Actually I kind of like that idea. It'll give us plenty of time to get what we need for this _surprise_ party." Zuko knew Katara had other plans with Aang, and decided to help her out a little._

"_Hmm…" said Sokka, "I am a fan of surprise parties. Okay, fine, but I say we go somewhere else instead of here. No offense to the Fire Nation, but I'm sick of seeing buildings and concrete everywhere. We need a different scenery!'_

"_Like where?" asked Suki._

"_I say Ember Island. It was a nice place, and we had our own private beach, so Aang can go out in public and not be afraid to be mobbed by fan girls. I'm sure he'll agree to it."_

_Mai yawned at the idea, "Seriously? I really don't feel like going back to that place. It's just so…boring."_

"_You think everything is boring Mai!" said Toph began to smirk, "But I'm sure Zuko can somehow make it fun for you at night in the least bit."_

_Mai and Zuko blushed at the young earth bender, always forgetting that she could hear and feel just about anything in the house._

"_Toph is right" said Sokka, "it would be nice to not hear you guys making out and doing other things that would always give me the creeps!"_

"_Oh yea Sokka," said Toph, "you're the one to talk _Mr. Boomerang_! Always ready to come back for more with Suki in the bed." Now it was Sokka and Suki's turn to blush at Toph._

"_Okay!" yelled Katara who didn't want to know anything about Zuko and Mai, let alone her brother, and the words _boomerang and Suki _in the same sentence. Even though she already knew, she didn't need anymore help with images in her mind._

"_I think getting away would be a great idea, and Ember Island kind of seems like a better choice than all the other places that we have visited before. And it's not that far." announced Katara. She knew it was also a bad memory for Aang, but she was going to make it a better experience for him this time._

"_Oh fine," said Mai, "I guess I can sacrifice something for Aang. He deserves that much from me." She finished with a wink at Zuko._

_Zuko smiled a crooked smile, and agreed to _sacrifice_ some time for Aang. Plus it would be nice for him to just get away for a little bit. And Iroh agreed that if he ever needed some time off, then he could take his place until he came back. There was no one else he could trust more than his Uncle. Soon, Toph, Sokka, and Suki had all agreed as well._

"_You guys might have to take a boat as well. I looked over at Appa tonight, and he's acting sick. And I think the last thing we need to do is push him to his limit." said Katara, who needed him for their _own _little journey._

"_Are you kidding me?" yelled Toph, "I hate boats more than I hate flying!"_

"_I'm sorry, but we have to think about Appa's health." explained Katara, "He's been through a lot."_

_Toph crossed her arms and put he feet up on the table, spitting to the side, "Whatever."_

"_Ember Island will take at least a day and a half to get there on boat, so we should all leave tomorrow." said Zuko_

"_Actually…"Katara began, "Aang and I will stay here and try to heal Appa, and we will meet you there. I figured if I wasn't gone with you guys, he wouldn't expect a surprise party."_

_Suki was starting to realize that Katara had different plans while they would be on the boat, sailing to the Island. "I think it's a good idea. You are after all the only healer in the Fire Nation, and I'm sure it'll take some time to heal such a big creature." Suki winked at her, giving her the signal that she knew._

_After a while of some more arguing about Appa not being able to be ready by tomorrow, Sokka finally figured that his health was important enough. They all decided to leave the next morning, so they could get a head start, just in case of a storm. Everyone went off to bed, but Toph stopped by Katara once everyone left._

"_If you don't end up being with Twinkle Toes after this adventure of yours, I'm going to kill you. You will look like the throw up that I'll be puking up on that boat! Plus your heart beats for each other are louder than the others in the same room! And you two aren't even _in_ the same room!_

_Katara was about to object that she had other plans with Aang, but she remembered Toph was a great reader when it came to lying. Katara laughed at her remark, and agreed to it. _

ooooOooooooOoooooo

Katara was just happy that she was able to convince everyone about leaving without her and Aang. She had a _lot_ of help from her friends in the room, who were trying to convince Sokka.

She looked back out at the beautiful rising sun from her bed, feeling it's heat on her naked body. Causing her to think of Aang, and how his body had always been warm, but his mouth was somehow always cool. A mystery that she would probably never solve. Katara hopped out of bed, and put on her clean Fire Nation outfit, knowing that it was Aang's favorite.

She then headed down stairs to make him some of his favorite things for breakfast. First, a big bowl of a fruit salad, two loafs of bread with honey oozing out of it, and some fried cinnamon puffs with strawberries on the inside. She then got a watermelon, cut a whole in the top, bended the juice out of it, and dropped the seeds into a separate bowl. She spun the floating fruit juice in the air, making it a bit smoother to drink, breathed her cold breath into it, and put it back into the watermelon.

Satisfied with her accomplishment on Aang's breakfast, she headed up stairs to his room. Katara never minded cooking for Aang, he was always willing to help her in any way possible, and he also helped clean up the mess while Sokka would go right to sleep.

As she finally found his room, she opened the door as quietly as she could so as not to wake him if he wasn't already up. She crept into his room, with the tray of food, and placed it on the small table where Aang had fallen when he finally woke from his battle with Ozai. She went to his bedside, and saw him sleeping on his stomach, while his face was to the sun. He had no shirt on again, but his Fire Nation pants were still on from last night.

She sat down on his bed left side, watching his chest rise up and down as he breathed slowly. Katara smiled at how peaceful he looked this morning, and how the purple under is eyes were finally vanishing from his light skin. She put her left hand on the edge of the bed for support, while her right, began to play with his long black hair. She loved his hair, and how it had it had grown out so fast over the last few weeks. She remembered the first time she saw that he could in fact grow hair. It struck her as odd, because she thought he was kind of born bald even though he would shave his head in front of her.

Katara kept running her hand through his soft hair, removing it from his sweet face, as she kept looking for his blue arrow underneath, afraid it wasn't there anymore, but it was still there. Smiling with relief, she never realized how much she missed seeing it on his forehead. The young Water Bender brushed the back of her hand on his face, trailing up to the one small scar on the far side of his cheek. Without hesitation, she bent down, and kissed the little scar, wishing it could disappear. This caused Aang to stir a little bit, but it wasn't enough to wake him from his eternal slumber.

The young girl smiled again at the 13 year old boy who laid in front of her, seeing that war had changed him a lot. But when he slept, he turned back into that little kid who just wanted to have fun.

Katara's eyes darted back to the scar that Azula had left him, and some burn marks that were from her father, Ozai. She placed her hand on his back, just like she did on the blimp, and began tracing his tattoos again. It was a slow process, as her hands would trail to the next scar, and back again to his blue tattoo.

She could see the goose bumps rising as her thumb rubbed against the light pink skin, from Azula, and then dragging her hand effortlessly against his side. She could feel his muscles tensing underneath her fingers, as she then traced back to his rib cage. The sleeper couldn't take it anymore, as he drew his hand up, catching Katara's arm by surprise.

"Mmm," he said with a smiling sleepy voice, "that tickles."

Katara smiled down at his half open stormy gray eyes, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up."

The little actor closed his eyes again, twisting his body around so that he could lay on his back, opening his eyes. "Actually," he confessed, "I've been up since before you came in." Aang smiled a devily smile at the beautiful dark skinned girl, who only ended up hitting him playfully on the chest and began to laugh. He loved waking up next to her, and hearing that elegant laugh.

"Why is it that every time you open your eyes to me, it seems like it's the first time in 100 years?" asked Katara.

Aang never realized that he did that to her, but he knew his body would heat up again when she was the first thing he saw in the morning. Katara started feel the young boy getting hotter as her hand lay inches from his arm, causing her to blush for just a second without him realizing it.

"I guess, waking up in your arms was a bit of a surprise for me at first, and maybe it's like…my body reenacts what happened so long ago?"

Katara smiled at his answer, knowing that she could somehow affect him in a way that would never disappear over time.

"Well, you better get dressed, and packed for today. We have got some hours to kill in the sky, and I don't need a lazy Air Bender right now." she smiled, and continued, And _if_ for some reason, you are hungry, I brought you up some breakfast as well."

As soon as the word 'breakfast' slipped out of her mouth, Aang's stomach began to rumble again. Aang looked over at the ample amount of food on the tray, feeling the drool building up inside of his mouth.

He swallowed it back down, and looked back up at Katara with admiration in his eyes, "Thank you. You didn't have to go through so much trouble for me."

Katara shrugged, "That's what people do when it's their Birthday."

She got up from the bed and walked to the door. But before she went out, she looked back at him and said, "And it's only the beginning." She winked at him, as closed the door softly behind her.

oooooOooooooOooooo

As soon as Katara was done packing some clothes and supplies for their trip, she went outside towards where Appa and Momo were at. Appa was eating the rest of his hay, while Momo was chasing after a grasshopper. Katara set her stuff to the side of Appa, and started to pet his head.

"Hey Appa, how are you feeling?" The ten ton bison roared at her question, and continued to eat the hay.

She giggled at him knowing that she didn't understand him, but did at the same time. "Good. Because, we have quite a journey ahead of us for the next two days, and I need you for this." She paused as she scratched the back of his ear. "You up for helping me with Aang's birthday?" Again the bison roared quietly.

She hugged the side of his face, "I knew you would be."

By about this time Aang walked out again, wearing the Fire Nation uniform that he had first gotten when they came onto enemy territory.

Katara shook her head, and asked, "What's up with you and that uniform? I see you wear it more than you Air Nomad clothes that Zuko gave you."

"Actually",the sleepy boy said, "I have come to like it a lot over the past weeks. Plus it covers up all of my tattoos so everyone can see that I'm a normal kid. And the outfit that Zuko gave me is too heavy and hot. I think if I ever wore it, it would be perfect in the South or North Pole." Aang smiled again, and altered the question back to her, "What's your excuse?"

Katara began to blush, knowing that the reason she wore it was for him, and not because of the weather. But before she could answer him, Appa roared again, making her jump just a little bit, and it was perfect timing too on his part. She usually had to depend on Sokka for that kind of stuff.

"I think…we should head out now Aang. It's starting to get late."

She began to climb up, but before she took another climb, Aang pulled her down gently into his arms, and air bended them onto the saddle. He placed her gently on it, jumped off, picked up the rest of their things, and jumped back up. When he was done strapping everything on, he back flipped in front of her, with his legs crossed, seated in front of her.

"Show off." she said.

Aang shrugged his shoulders, and gave her an apologetic smile. Momo then landed on his head, wrapping his tail around his neck. "So where are we heading to?"

Katara gave him a crooked smile, and said, "The Northern Air Temple."

oooooOoooooOooooo

…_back to when Katara left Aang in his room._

Aang looked up at the breakfast that Katara had made for him, knowing that she must have gotten up pretty early to do all of these things for him, and for that he was thankful to have such a great friend with him.

"_Yea…friend"_ he said to himself with disgust to the word. If only there was a way to get around that. He knew he was making this _way_ more complicated than it was, and it sort of reminded him of when he was first started earth bending. Toph was extremely tough on him, and no matter how hard he tried, it was never good enough.

Katara was there to always help him, reminding him that if water and fire were opposites, then air and earth were too. _"Your working against your natural element." _as she so plainly put it. He loved how Katara could help him solve his problems, but how could she with this one? What would _she_ say?

After a few minutes of thinking about it, he gave up and went to eat the delicious meal that looked so nice, he didn't even want touch it. However, his stomach had other intentions. He finished his meal and drank the last bit of the water melon juice, feeling the serenity of it all the way down his throat.

Aang didn't know what to expect with Katara's trip for his birthday. It made him a little anxious as he thought about _all_ of the possibilities out there. They had visited so many placed over the last 8 months of his training to become an Avatar. But it didn't really matter where they went, as long as Katara was with him, it would be amazing.

As soon as Aang finished, he went and packed. Putting his Air Nomad clothes in there, just in case, his black cloak, his headband, a few scrolls about Avatars from the Fire Nation, and even some on the Water Tribe, the bison whistle, and the flute that he used once before they went into the library, and of course his glider.

Once that was all done, he put on his school uniform of the Fire Nation, and headed down stairs with his pack in his right hand. He headed back into the kitchen to get a few things, but Katara had already beat him to the punch on a lot of the things he wanted to bring with him. So he decided to grab the last bit of moon peaches that were left on the table, and headed outside to where Katara was.

Before Aang walked out of the house, he paused and looked around the house, realizing for the first time that _no one_ was there. Usually Sokka would be storming around for food with Suki by his side, Toph would be picking at her toes, Zuko would be reading at the scrolls that the Generals would give him while Mai would be sharpening her small daggers, and Iroh would be playing his Sungi horn to make the morning more pleasant.

Aang wondered how long it took to convince them all to leave the house at the same time, just before they left on this little adventure of hers. He smiled and shook his head as he locked up the door, making sure no one would break in. He walked over to where Appa was, and stopped dead in his tracks as he looked up and down at Katara next to his bison. She was in her Fire Nation outfit as well, and it starated causing his body to heat up again, and only it got hotter as he walked closer to her.

She turned to face him, and said, "What's up with you and that uniform? I see you wear it more than your Air Nomad clothes that Zuko gave you."

Aang gave her a generous smile, saying, "Actually I have come to like it a lot. Plus it covers up all of my tattoos so everyone can see I'm a normal kid. And the outfit that Zuko gave me is too heavy and hot. I think if I ever wore it, it would be perfect in the South or North Pole." It was indeed a heavy piece of clothing, but it was nice to wear something else besides Air Nomad clothing all the time.

He once tried to wear something from every nation, but it didn't work out. Katara was always able to help him coordinate his sense of style, which he may need help with yet again.

He examined Katara again, wondering why she decided to where that instead of her normal Water Tribe clothing. So he turned the table around on her, "What's your excuse?"

Aang saw her blush just a little bit at his question, but Appa was able to save her as he roared out at them. She changed the subject quickly, as she looked up at the sun, and said, "I think…we should head out Aang. It's starting to get late."

He smiled at her, remembering at how good she was at not answering a question, Which always made her a mystery to him. When he came back to reality, she already started climbing up on Appa. Dropped his stuff instatnly, he pulled her down into his arms in the most amiable way possible.

He could see the shock in her eyes as he held her tightly against his chest, as her hair started dancing in the wind, and tickling his face. He jumped up on Appa's saddle and placed her down as if she would break if not taken properly care of. Aang jumped off of the saddle and ran towards their stuff that laid in the grass.

"_What am I doing? She could have easily gotten up there on Appa like she did a thousand times before, and I decide to do that! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"_ he thought to himself. But Katara felt so light to him, and she was the perfect length in his arms, that he wouldn't mind carrying her around for the rest of his life.

It just felt so right, and it would be even easier for him to fall in love with her every single day. He picked up the gear, placed it on the back of Appa, tied it, and flipped backwards, and using air bended himself to sit in front of her.

"Show off." she said.

He didn't think he was showing off to her, but now that he thought about it, maybe he was trying to? He used to do that a lot when he had first met her. Especially when they arrived at Keyoshi Island, and he tried to ride the Coi Fish, which ended up being a disaster as the Unagi showed up. Aang smiled in a somewhat apologizing way, and shrugged at her.

Momo decided to land on Aang head, and tickled him as his soft tail wrapped around his neck. "So," he asked, "where are we heading to?"

He then saw a bright light in her eyes, and she gave him a cute crooked smile, "The Northern Air Temple."

Aang became excited at this part of his surprise, because he had been wanting to go back see how much had changed since he was last there. At first he was mad about what Tao and his father were doing, but learned to accept it. Just as the hermit crab would find a new shell and call it home. He was thrilled to go back there, but what was it that made Katara decide to go there in the first place?

oooooOooooooOooooo

The trip only ended up taking up about half of the day, but once they arrived, they could see more gliders flying around more, than they had last time. Appa decided to join up with them, as it reminded the young creature of the old times.

"Aang! Katara!" yelled a familiar voice

They both looked up at the same, and saw a boy in his wheelchair, flying next to them and waving.

"Tao!" Aang yelled back. "I see that you have got some new wings!"

"Hell yea man! I can do circles around you now that my dad made a few modifications! You up for a challenge?"

Aang jumped out of his seating position, grabbed his glider and opened it up. But before he left, he looked back at Katara. She only smiled at him, and nodded, telling him to go. And with that Aang jumped out, feeling the air blow through his hair for the first time in what seemed like years.

Katara watched Aang, smiling at his laughter, and seeing him have some fun for once. She knew he would like this place very much, now that he had come to accept the fact Tao and them living in the temple.

"Come on Appa, let's land over there. Yip Yip! said Katara as she grabbed the reigns.

Appa roared loudly obeying her command, as if she were Aang. When Appa finally settled down, Katara jumped off landing on her feet gently. Appa rolled onto his side letting out a little groan.

She went over and rubbed his leathery stomach, telling him that she would be owing him big time for this. She had come to love this bison creature more and more everyday she was around him.

Once Aang saw Katara land Appa, he split from the group touching down in front of her. "You're coming to fly too, right?" he asked in an innocent kid way, which she always adored when he would do that.

"You didn't think I was going to let you have _all_ of the fun, now did you?" She grabbed a glider that was close by her, and took off.

She remembered how scared she was the first time she leapt of the piece of land, afraid that she didn't have enough _spirit_, as Aang once put it. However, she did have it in herself, and it was the most amazing experience she ever had, despite swallowing the bug part. Katara flew that day, because she wanted to know why flying made Aang the way he was. It didn't take long to figure out that when you are soaring through the sky, with nothing to block you, you have absolute freedom.

The group continued to fly for hours, showing off moves, having races, and playing tag. It was definitely the most fun that Katara and Aang have had in a long time. Now it was Aang's turn to show off his moves, as he flipped himself on top of his glider and began to wind surf. Something that Monk Gyatso had done when Aang went into the Avatar state to learn about Roku and Sozin's past.

Finally after all of that flying, Katara became tired and started heading back to the temple. But before she could, Aang flew up under her with his back to the ground.

"You done already?" he asked.

"Katara nodded, "Yea, I don't know how you can do it for so long?"

"Once you have 113 years of experience, it becomes like second nature. Just like when you bend water, you can feel its presence around you, even if you can't see it."

Katara laughed, "I suppose so!"

"I just thought Water Benders were stronger for some reason, but I guess even a _Master _hastheir limits, which doesn't surprise me at all. After all Air would kick Waters butt without even lifting a finger!"

This made Katara mad now, since he decided to bring her natural element into this. She knew he was just taunting with her, making her fly more with him. And the funny thing was it worked!

Katara pulled her glider up into air, soaring towards the clouds now, where she could get some water. Aang followed her, smiling at his accomplishment. When he finally caught up with her, water splashed in his face, sending a cold chill down the back of his neck, then another one came from behind, and another, and another. Soon, he was soaking wet, and the chilly air didn't help any.

At long last, he found her in the clouds, flying around him in cover. He flew abover her, and did a barrel roll as he was now soaring underneath her, with his back to the ground again. Katara kept looking for Aang, ready to show him that water is just as strong in the air.

"_Where are you?"_ she asked herself. She went around in circles trying to find him, but couldn't.

Now it was his turn. Aang had been gathering up as much water as possible, making a huge glob of it underneath her. Katara started to notice that the clouds were disappearing spin around her, knowing that something was about to happen…and it did.

Once Aang had enough water to vaporize the Northern Temple, he released it on her. But she was quicker, and able to stop it just in time. Even with one hand, she was still the best Water Master. But what she didn't know was that he had more water on above her that was already forming.

Just when she thought she had him, she see saw a smile through the clear water, and that's when Aang let all of the water fall on him, as he went plummeting down the sky. Katara laughed at Aang, knowing that she had won. But she felt some drops on top of her head. She looked up, and saw the huge water that laid above her, as it came crumbling down on her. Causing her to fall, and spinning downwards to the earth.

Now she was screaming for dear life, trying to get back into the air, but there a tear in the glider. She screamed for Aang, but he didn't show up. The fear was building up now, not knowing if he would actually come or not.

Aang could see that her glider was messed up, and once her heard her scream, his heart stopped. It was like an icicle had went through his stomach, causing him more pain than when he lost Appa. He closed up his glider, and dove after her, going faster than he ever had.

When he was finally under, with hundreds of feet between them and the earth, he spread his hands and legs out, causing himself to slow down. He turned his face sideways, making an eye contact with Katara, telling her what to do without saying anything. She nodded, and let go of the messed up glider, free falling onto Aang. At long last, she settled down softly on the air benders back, and clutched onto him for dear life.

"Hang on!" he yelled over the wind, as he opened up his glider, and together they soared back up to the Temple. He could feel Katara breathing quickening, as well as her heart that was beating against his back, feeling ashamed for what he did to her.

Finally he landed away from everyone so as not to cause a panic about what happened in the sky. However, Katara wouldn't let go of him, even when he did land. Her head was still buried in his shoulders, so she couldn't see what was right in front of her. Her legs were wrapped around his stomach with a grip of an anaconda, and her arms went underneath his, still hanging onto his clothes.

When Aang could see that she wasn't going to let go, he let his glider fall to the ground, and placed his hands on her velvety skin. He started to rub his palm along her arms, and stopped at her hands as he squeezed them. But she clung harder to him.

"Katara…" he whispered, "we landed…we're safe. I'm about to release your hands from me." She shook her head against him, tightening her grip on him again.

Then he said two words that calmed her entire body down.

"Trust me."

With that, her grip loosened on him, and her eyes began to open, realizing that they had indeed landed. And affter of few minutes of him untangling her, her legs gave out, but Aang caught her with his left arm around her waist, and his right hand cradling her neck. He gently laid her down onto the cement, afraid again that she would break if not handled with care.

Katara looked up at him, noticing his hands were still around him. And without even realizing it, she punched Aang on the side of his lip, causing him to let go of her as he landed on his butt.

Katara's eyes got big as she said, "I'm sorry Aang! I don't even know why I did that!"

Aang had never seen her punch anyone, but she had a good right hook. He tasted a little bit of blood on his lips, and spat it out. He then started to laugh now at what just happened.

"What's so funny?" she asked in a curious manner, as she too began to smile at his laugh.

"I think that even if you didn't have water bending in your blood, every guy would be scared to get into a fight with you!" He placed his hand on his jaw, moving it around; making sure it was still attached to his skull. Aang wasn't mad at what she did, but just took it in as another moment between them…one that he wouldn't forget for a long time.

He got back up onto his, spitting out some more blood in his mouth. He held out his hand for her, with a smile on his face. Katara smiled back at him, and placed her hand in his, as he pulled her up. By this time, Tao and a few of the others came running, and wheeling, towards them.

"What the hell happened up there?" yelled Tao, "All of the sudden the wind started to pick up so much that we had to land. The clouds were twisting up in the sky, and they even began to disappear. And the next thing we knew, a _huge_ waterfall poured out of the clouds getting us all wet! Then another slab of water hits us thirty seconds later?"

Aang and Katara looked at each other, afraid that Tao might be a little mad at them, but proved to be the opposite.

"It was the _coolest_ thing that I have seen in my entire life! I've never seen the sky bend to anyone's will before! But what happened up there?"

Aang looked down at Katara, smiled, and looked back at Tao. "Just bending practice."

"Well it was totally sick man!" Tao then looked around, and only saw Aang's glider on the ground. "What happened to the other glider Katara?"

This time Katara let out a little giggle, quoting Aang, "Bending practice."

Tao laughed a little knowing that it was long gone, and that he was never going to be able to find out what really went on up there in the clouds. He looked back at Aang, and saw his lip bleeding.

"Dude, what happened to your lip? Looks like you just took a hit from Toph!" said Tao as he started to examine it. Aang whipped away the blood away from his lips, as if to try and hide the evidence.

"I think I would have rather taken a swing from her instead."

Tao looked between them both, realizing that Katara had punched him. Since he knew he wasn't going to find out he changed the subject, "Well, if you guys are hungry then we can go eat. All of that flying makes a guy hungry…and girl!" Tao, turned his wooden wheelchair around, and rolled away with the others who were trying to figure out what went on in the sky.

Aang and Katara stood there for a second, as everyone left to the Temple. He let go of Katara's hand, not even remembering that he was still hanging onto it when he picked her up from the ground.

"I'm sorry Katara." he said with a painful look in his eyes, "I didn't mean to scare you like that…I guess I was having too much fun, and it got out of control on my part." The young boy looked to the side, trying to not make eye contact.

Katara smiled up at him, pulled him in, and hugged him tightly. "It's okay Aang. I'm the one who should apologize for what I did to you."

He let out a small laugh, "No, I deserved that punch."

Katara smiled into his shoulder, and then released him. She put both of her hands on his face, and started to examine the wound that she had caused. Then she ran her right thumb over it, causing him to suck air back through his teeth.

"That kind of stings a little bit."

She smiled at him, as he showed his weakness to her. Katara sighed, and licked the same thumb that ran over the cut, tasting the blood on it. She placed it back on his lip, gently rubbing her saliva against it.

His lips still felt like those clouds that she was just in, and it made her pulse quicken as she looked at them with such eagerness. Katara felt him breath out the cold air against her fingers, causing her body to get goose bumps. Aang's eyes went to the back of his head, as he enjoyed the taste of her fingers on his lips.

Katara noticed that his eyes were closed now as she did this to him. It was as if she could bend him to her will, and he would do anything at this point. She kept rubbing his bottom lip as her face inched closer and closer without him realizing it. She looked up one more time as she closed her eyes, and barely brushed her lip to his like a feather, but it didn't go any farther than that as they were soon interrupted by a younger boy.

Aang separated from her, realizing that she _almost_ kissed him, but he felt her lips on his none the less. And even though it wasn't a real kiss, he got to feel them again for one happy second. Then the words _loophole_ whispered through his mind as he looked at Katara.

"Sorry to interrupt." The little blonde headed messenger boy said, "But Tao said if you were going to get the best food first, than you should go now. And also he was wondering if he could come back with you guys to the Fire Nation?"

Aang looked at Katara, whose head was down as she played with her hair nervously. "Why would he want to come with us?" asked Katara, without making eye contact.

The boy shrugged, "Something about seeing an old Earth Bender?"

They both smiled at the remark, realizing that he was talking about Toph. Tao must have developed a crush on her when they were at the Eastern Temple, Katara apprehended.

"Tell him we'll think about it." She winked at him, hinting to the boy that he could return back to the Temple. And with that, the boy ran off as quickly as he could.

"Umm…" was all the air bender could say at the moment. He didn't have words to say after what just or almost happened! Why did the word loophole pop into his head when Katara did that? He scrambled through those last few minutes, as his brain tried to decode.

Unfortunately, his eyes were closed the whole time, and the next thing he knew _she_ barely put her lips against his, and loophole came to mind. And that's when it hit him!

His mind was finally grasping at what Iroh had said about his promise being two sided, and how there was a loophole in it. "He_ couldn't go after her, _he_ couldn't kiss her, but if _she_ was the one behind the doing…then…then…"_

Katara noticed that his eyes were closed again, as if he was trying to figure out what just happened.

Maybe he didn't want this to happen with them…maybe he didn't want her after all? She brushed that aside quickly, knowing that it wasn't true. She saw the way Aang reacted when her fingers were on his lips, and how he remained absolutely still as if he was enjoying the feeling.

"_How could I have not seen it?"_ he thought to himself, _"This whole time…since the beginning? I…I can actually be with her! I can actually be with the woman I love! _

He wondered if her punch had finally knocked some kind of sense into him, and if that was what it took, he would take a hit in the mouth anytime, and as hard as she possibly could!

"Aang?" Katara asked, as his calm gray eyes darted back to hers, with a sense of relief in them. "Aang, is, is everything okay?"

Aang smiled the biggest smile he could give to her, and said, "You have no idea."

She smiled back at him as he said those words, and then she threw herself at him with her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Aang tightened his grip around her, as he pulled closer into his body, with no space left between them. Katara loved this feeling, but it was a different hug…like he was…overjoyed?

She put her lips next to his ear and whispered, "We better get going before they send another messenger boy to get us."

Aang nodded against her, tightened his grip one more time, and released her from his embrace. They walked back together, smiling, and letting their hands hit each other without a care in the world.

**Oooohhh, sooooo close! But not yet! Least Aang has FINALLY figured out the riddle. Now don't be mad at him, he is young, and new to this stuff! And its just how ive written the stories, so don't hate on Aang out there. I loved him in the cartoons! So i hope you guys enjoyed it enough to review again! Please do so if you haven't! Peace and blessings to you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, another LOOOOONG chapter with 9,200 words this time! Sorry, but i loved this chapter MORE than the last one, and it was just a blast for me to write. =) I also apologize to Blood Seraph for not putting your name in my AN, but i am glad that that didn't stop you from reading and reviewing me anyways, so thank you very much. Im also sorry if any other names were left off, and i hope you keep reviewing me as well! I do read them ALL!**

**Watertribeman, thank you for your review! It makes me happy that you are really enjoying the characters, and how ive tried my best to keep the characters to their orginal selfs! You keep me inspired! Also, balseirocharmed, thank you for your personal note to me. I am glad that i can create a mental picture of everything going on in these chapters for you, and i hope i meet your approval again. Thanks everyone else for your reviews! You all keep me writting! **

**I don't own Avatar, but im still a fan. Back to the story!**

When Aang and Katara entered into the temple, they saw groups of people sitting in circles, laughing, eating, and talking. Tao of course was right about the first come first serve type deal. There wasn't much food left at all, but they both salvaged what remained.

A lot of it, however, were things that the young air bender couldn't eat. He only ended up getting a couple of fruits, and a tomato. Obviously, he knew it wasn't going to fill him up in the least bit, but he wasn't too hungry, least not yet. Even after all of that flying and bending that he did today, he had other things on his mind besides food.

Once they both had their trays of food, they passed through the crowd, trying not to step on anyone. It didn't help at all when the crowd started to die down, move out of his way, and whispering to each other in secrecy. To Aang, this reminded him of what happened at the Fire Nation School he attended for a couple of days. He corrected a teacher about the Fire Nation ambushing the Air Nomads 100 years ago, and also showing the kids dancing during music practice. He was the talk of the school that day.

Finally, they found Tao, and sat next to him and his friend and their oval circle. The kids around them stopped what they were doing, and just looked at Katara and Aang. A feeling, he doubted, that would never go away.

"So," said Tao who was trying to break the silence, "umm, how are you guys liking it here?"

Aang took a bite of the tomato, which tasted rotten, and swallowed it anyways out of respect. But he wasn't able to hide the sour face that he made, or the shivers that went down his spine.

"I really liked it." he said, "It was nice to finally get away from everything that has been going on at the Fire Nation. I can see that your dad has invented a few other things as well?"

Tao smiled, "Yea, you know how he can get sometimes when he finds something else to invent. However, ever since you left, we have been more careful with sacred places that we know you wouldn't want changed, so we left them alone."

Aang shook his head at his answer, telling him, "Nah man! This is _your_ home now." The young air bender turned his head around as he studied all of the groups of people around him. "Plus" he added, "it seems like you need all of the room you can get."

"Yea, I guess you could say that. But we do what we can." added Tao

Aang picked up another strange fruit, hoping for it to taste a little bit better, but his hope was soon shattered when he tasted it. Katara was enjoying the last honey sandwich that Aang let her have, but when see looked at the monk's plate, she could see that he barely touched his food, feeling sad now. Katara had insisted that they share the sandwich, but he told her he would be fine with his fruit. She owed him now for not allowing her to eat the food there.

The water bender grabbed his right sleeve, bringing his head down to her lips and whispered, "Don't worry. We have plenty of food in our packs. I'll make you something when we are done here."

Aang smiled at the remark, and nodded towards her in thanks, grateful that she didn't say anything out loud. She was always knew what to say to make him smile, a trait that would never get old to him. But now, how was he going to get _her_ to kiss him again? How many more chances would he get? He wondered if it was too late for him now…

"So Aang," asked Tao, and bringing him to the world, "what made you two decide to come back here, and without your friends?"

The monk smiled to himself, understanding his question was actually towards Toph. But he actually didn't know the answer as to why he was here in the first place.

"To be honest Tao, I don't know why we came here, or why the rest of them didn't? This is all of Katara's doing." He looked back at Katara, and decided to bump her shoulder at him as she giggled quietly.

She decided to go ahead and answer both of their questions, while leaving some _minor_ details out. "Well, it's actually for Aang's birthday that just happened to be yesterday. So, I decided to take action and surprise him by coming here. I knew he liked this place when he was growing up, so I thought he should come back and visit. Plus I know you two became pretty good friends, and it gave me another reason to come back."

Tao nodded toward Katara, thanking her for choosing this place. "It is good to see you guys again. It seems like forever since Zuko was crowned Fire Lord. But there is one thing I am curious about though, Aang?"

Aang looked up at him with a curious expression on his face, "And what might that be?"

"Well…there are a lot of rumors about what you did with Ozai, and I just want to know if any of them are true? Especially, since you're a legend now and all."

The young air bender tightened his jaw as the memory of what happened that day, as it came flooding back into his head. He hadn't really given anyone the full details as to what was going on, except Iroh, but not even he knew all of it. It wasn't something he wanted to brag about, let alone tell.

Katara could see that this was upsetting him just a little, as his jaw tightened and all of the sudden his gray eyes no longer had that spark they had all day. She didn't even know what truly happened up at those rocks. Sokka tried to give them all of the details as to what he _saw_, but he always did exaggerate things at times…or all of the time.

"What is it that people are saying?" Aang asked in a bit deeper voice, without his eyes leaving the rotten food in front of him.

"Well," Tao said, as he placed his tray of food on the floor, "someone said that you twisted the soul out of Ozai, leaving him to die. Another said you killed him with the Avatar spirits. The one that seems popular around these parts is that you turned these _crazy_ colors, and you sucked the life out of him!"

Aang had heard some of these rumors before, but had always chosen to stay out of it, because people will say whatever they want, when they need the attention. He really didn't like to talk about it that day, but probably now was a good time to clear his name.

"What do you think Tao?" he asked as he looked up at the spirited boy.

Tao shrugged at his question. "I can't say? I know that you are a powerful Avatar now, but after spending some time with you, I learned that you aren't what people say you are. However, I think whatever you did, it was probably something that was hard to do…probably impossible?"

This made Aang like Tao even more, as he nodded towards the paralyzed teenager. "Well I'm glad that some people don't believe everything they here. But some of those so called _rumors_ have very minor truths in them."

"Like what?" pressed Tao

Aang took a big breathe, and exhaled it out longer than necessary. But he deserved to know the truth, they _all_ did. He looked around the entire circle, as they were now hanging at every word, ready to hear what really happened.

"When it first started" he began, "Ozai was winning. His bending was so powerful, and I would never wish upon anyone to face him. My offense was doing nothing to him at the time, because I couldn't get into the Avatar State. I decided defense was my best chance if I wanted to survive long enough…so I formed a circle of rocks around me to protect myself from his fire. But that didn't stop him from trying to kill me." Aang paused looking around, and seeing that more people had joined the group to hear his story.

He continued, "The heat was so…bloodcurdling. The air inside was starting to thin out so much I had a tough time breathing. And the fear was just…crazy. _So_ real, and I didn't know what else to do. The heat made it worse as the rocks around me started to even disintegrate…" Aang stopped.

All of the sudden, the feeling of every scar that was on him, was beginning to burn like fire. He couldn't believe that after all of the training he did with Zuko, they never once bothered him. But when he was reliving his worst nightmare, it seemed like he was getting burned all over again. It was like he was back in that ball of rocks; alone with him and fear. Aang tightened his hands and jaw, hoping to relieve some of the pain.

Katara could see that this memory was indeed something that scared him, and he didn't want to relive it ever again. He never told his side of the story to any of them in the group…not even to her. She looked back at him when she couldn't hear his voice anymore.

The blue eyed girl could see that his hands were clenched in such a tight ball, that his knuckles were bleeding white. Katara also noticed that his entire body had become stiff, and that he wasn't even breathing now. Whatever was going through his mind, it was enough to scar him, and her. The young water bender put her right hand on his left, hoping it would soothe him somehow.

As soon as he felt a soft touch on his hand, Aang looked down at the hand resting on top of his. He felt the rubbing of her thumb as she tried to help him, and reminding himself that the reason he fought was for her. Even when he made that stupid promise, he wanted her to live in a world where she wouldn't have to worry about the Fire Nation killing anyone that she was close to.

Finally his hand loosened underneath, allowing hers to slip into his, and their hands became intertwined. He looked up into her eyes, and suddenly it stopped. The burned scars on him began to cool down, while his fears were being driven out into dark ocean eyes in front of him.

The monk looked away from her, as he closed his eyes and breathed in and out again. "…but it didn't stop there. Ozai released a far more powerful force of fire on me. I assumed if was from Sozins Comet, because it was something more than just a ball of fire hitting me. This time, he penetrated through the rocks, and the heat was even worse when the stones separated against my will. I tried to block his fire with my air, but his fire still burned away the rest of my monk clothes, and even burned parts of my skin."

He paused again, when the burning started again, but Katara's grip tightened on him. He gave her a reassuring gentle smile when he looked up at her, and squeezed back.

"His force was so strong, that it sent me towards a somewhat sharp rock that hit me in a very sensitive area in my back." Katara knew what part he was talking about. It was the wound that Azula gave him. Ever since that day, it had always stopped him from going into the Avatar's defense mechanism. Everyone began to whisper to each other, seeing that the story was only going to be getting better.

"But," he added, "it was exactly what I needed to happen in order for myself to go into the Avatar State. My body was crushed underneath all of the rocks that at one point surrounded me for protection. I could hear his voice from underneath as he said, _'Come on out little boy. You're about to be…"_ but before he could finish what he said, I grabbed his long black goatee, and pulled myself out of the disintegrated rocks. I could see the fear in his eyes now, as he tried to hit me with fire. It was all like slow motion to me, as I easily blocked his inferno."He paused again, and looked up at the faces who now sat in shock, and terror. He could see that the circle around him was getting bigger and bigger by the looked back at Katara, whose face he couldn't read at the moment, and proceeded with the story.

"All of the sudden I was floating, with the air surrounding me in a shell. I could feel every Avatar's hate towards the Fire Lord, as fire came out of my hands, feet, and even mouth when I roared like a dragon at him. When the fire was under my complete control, it was added with the air around me. I had also begun to summon up earth from the rock towers as well as the ground. My hands were now clutching against my own skin as I felt the rage, and pain inside of myself. The rocks were now orbiting my body, along with the fire."

Katara put her other hand over his, trying again to calm him down as he told his story. She had never known how much hurt he was going through, or what it felt like to have past lives inside of you. It was a scary thought, and it made it even scarier as he told it with an unexpressed tone.

Aang could see that he was frightening Katara, so he tried to make it less painful for her sake. "Water, however, was the easiest to summon. It was also something that had become second nature to me, and it was able to soothe me a little as well. I at long last had every element spiraling around me…and I could see that Ozai's fear had grown now."

"We flew around the rocks for many minutes, while he would fire at me, and I would block it just as easily with the earth elements around me. Ozai was very fast, but it didn't last long. The rampage was building up in not only me, but every Avatar as well. I didn't care about running into the rock pillars as I chased after him, because now he was trying to flee from me. As I got closer, I summoned air, and water together, and sending it towards him as my arm began to twist in circles."

Aang released Katara's hands as he stood up in front of the crowd, not wanting to sit any longer. He looked around once more, saving Katara for last, and then shut his eyes and continued. "The elements encircled his body, and when I had him in my grasp, I pulled him down, as the water engulfed him. I swung him once, and slammed him down on top of a rock. I drifted in front of him, as he lay there, coughing out the water in his body. I conjured up the rocks to cover his hand and feet so that he couldn't escape me. I remember the exact words the Avatar's spoke through me that day. _'Fire Lord Ozai, you and your four fathers have devastated the balance of this world. And now you shall pay the ultimate price!'_"

"I roared like thunder, as every element started to twist up high into the air, ready and willing at my command. And when it was time, I released it all on him. The Avatar's powers were so unyielding…I don't know how I was able to stop myself from becoming a killer. I wanted revenge for my people, and my past lives wanted it even more as it coursed through my blood."

He opened up his eyes, as he clarified what he meant by that. "The Monks raised me to believe that _every_ life is precious, even ones as evil as the Fire Lord. They told me that revenge is like a two headed rat viper, and while you watch your enemy go down, you are being poisoned yourself."

Those were also the same exact words he spoke to Katara, when she had found out about her mothers killer still being alive out there. All she wanted to do was take his life, just as he had stolen hers. But when she was about to kill him, Aang came into her head, repeating those words over and over again. _He_ was the reason she didn't become a murderer that day, but she wondered if she would have stopped herself if he hadn't been there to warn her.

The air bender saw some people nod their heads in agreement when he spoke those words.

"When I saw what I was doing, I stopped myself…and the element became just plain water, air, and rocks while the fire disappeared. I closed my eyes, and the rocks around Ozai disintegrated. I turned my back to him as I landed on the same stone that he laid on, telling him, _'No, I'm not going to end it like this.'_"

"His words to me were, _'Even with all of the power in the world, you are still weak!'_ I felt the vibration of his body, with my eyes closed, as he moved again to try and kill me. Something a blind Earth Bender taught me a long time ago." It was the first time in the story that he barely even smiled, as recalled the first time he met Toph, and getting the nickname Twinkle Toes. But just as fast as his smile came, it faded away even quicker.

"He was about to hit me with more fire, but I used my right leg to lift up the rock, and block his shot. I twisted around, closing his hand so he couldn't use it again. When I went to his other side, he tried again with his inferno, but I ducked, calling the stones to lock his other hand. I turned in front of him, pushed the stones down, and making him bend to his knees. Then I put my left hand on his chest, and the other on his forehead, and he became still."

Aang, gulped again, as he closed his eyes, looking back at what happened. "Then I closed my eyes, hearing the words of a giant Lion Turtle I had come to meet before then. He told me _'In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves.'_"

"And when I opened my eyes and mouth, I saw a blue light brighter than the sky shooting through me, and Ozai, was shooting out a dark orange color as well. My body was engulfed by that blue color, and the Fire Lords did the same to him as well."The monk opened his eyes up, as everyone sat still with their mouths wide open at him. Even Katara's face blended in with the crowds.

"The Lion Turtles voice came back into my head, as Ozai's evil was taking over me, and he said _'To bend another's energy, your spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed.'_"

"Even as I remembered him telling me that, the Fire Lords hate was strong against me. I could feel that I was losing as my bodies color started to change into his." Aang decided to leave out the promise that he made, thinking it had helped him win…but he now knew the truth of his doing.

The air bender continued, "He almost had me…my body was weak and tired, but, but then I thought about all of the people who have been in my life. My friends, people I have come to love, and even all of you guys…you gave me the strength to fight back." Again, he left out the part of Katara being the key role to his victory, but he wasn't lying about what he said about them either.

"I looked down upon Ozai, and my strength grew ten fold, as my blue _now_ covered his entire body and then a beam of light shot to the sky. The Fire Lord collapsed on the ground, as I barely stood on my feet, knowing that I finally, at long last had taken his bending away." Now he wanted to clear a few things up before he left.

"Ozai was _not_ killed by mine or anyone else's doing. He is now imprisoned at the Fire Nation, where he will remain, and never hurt anyone ever again." Aang looked at every single face one last time, and when he got to Katara, his eyes lingered on hers. He saw so much confusion, pain, and heart ache through her eyes.

He looked away from her penetrable blues, and walked out while everyone watched his every move. And after a few minutes of silence, people began to move back to their spots, only whispering at what they just learned.

Katara didn't know what to think. Sokka made it seem like it was something easy to do, but she should have known better than to trust him when it comes to stories. She never saw how much that battle had really changed him, and how it made him less of a kid. This saddened the water bender, as she put her hands around her knees, and pulling them against her chest.

Tao finally spoke, "Wow…I never…I never thought that it would be like that. There's no way that that doesn't change a person. Even when I saw you guys for the first time, I could see he was different, but still himself."

Katara looked up at the young boy as he spoke those words. "I never knew anything about this" she said, "…in fact _none_ of us knew what he truly went through that day. It was a subject he would avoid if at all possible. But I think he truly didn't want anyone to think that he was a killer, or that he was a hypocrite about the things he had said to other people."

He shook his head in slow motion, "I never knew any of the other Avatar's, or their histories that well, but, I think Aang is the best out of all of them. Anyone who was in his position would have killed Ozai if they had the chance. He didn't allow others to make decisions for him that he knew would change him for the worst"

The water bender nodded in agreement at what Tao said, and she was even more proud of Aang than she had been when she found out that he didn't kill Ozai. But it still didn't fit to the way he acted around her when he came back. He was obviously leaving a big piece of the story out, which she would eventually get out of him when the time came.

Katara stood up from her spot, and looked down at Tao, who was still pondering about the events that had occurred that day. "Tao?" she asked, as the young boy looked up at her, "Now that you know the truth, please let other people know it as well. We don't need any more lies being spread about him, especially ones that make him out to be a villain."

Tao nodded at the tall blue eyed girl. "You know," he said, "I don't think I ever once thanked him for what he did…he at least deserves that from everyone in the world."

Katara smiled at him, seeing that he was now eternally grateful for his sacrificing. But she shook her head, "And you would never have to. He knows that everyone is grateful for what he did…even if they don't say anything." She smiled down at him, patted his shoulder, and walked away through the same exit Aang went through.

It didn't take her too long to find him. Anytime he had a problem, he would go outside, and just look at the horizon beyond him, still hoping for something else out there. She saw a door opened to her left and looked to see what she was looking for.

He was crouched on the ledge of a balcony, with his closed glider lying between his stomach and thighs. She didn't know how long he had been in that position, but he didn't look uncomfortable none the less. As quietly as she could, she walked to his left side, and leaned on the ledge with her arms folded. They both remained silent, and continued looking up at the clear skies with nothing but the crescent moon and stars to outshine the darkness.

Katara closed her eyes, and listened to the small breeze that was blowing in her face, sending chills down her body. This is also one of the other things she loved about the young man next to her. It was never awkward when there was nothing but silence between them, and that they could sit for hours and not say one word to each other. They had a special bond.

Aang didn't have to look to his left to know that it was Katara who found him. He knew she would eventually come after him, like she always did when he was in pain. Toph had once called her a mother, which was true, but it was also something he loved about her. She always showed kindness to him, was gentle when he was hurt, and even when she was teaching him to water bend, she was patient and determined. Katara was perfect to him in everyway humanly possible.

The air bender didn't know what came over him at dinner. He gave more details than he should have to a group of strangers, but the story he told wasn't for their sakes. It was for the girl next to him. He wanted her to know his side, and the truth…well most of it.

Katara kept looking up to the moon, and smiling at it. The silence was soon interrupted when a gentle voice came to her ears.

"Will you fly with me again Katara?" Aang asked.

Her eyes got wider at the ridiculous question that he decided to ask "Are you crazy? I think I have had enough experience with _your _element for one day!"

Aang gave her a pleading smile, and stood up on the railing. He put his hand out saying in a luscious voice, "Not like this."

She considered her options as she gazed into his cool gray eyes, but it had already been decided once she did that. She placed her hand in his as he helped her up on the edge next to him.

"Get back on my back, and hang on tight." he said at the same time when he opened his glider. Katara obeyed, as she put her arms around his neck loosely, so as not to choke him, and then she wrapped her legs around his lower torso, and even a little down his thighs.

Once she was on securely, he jumped off the ledge head first, diving for a few feet, put his glider above her, and then went flying back up towards the moon and stars. Katara put her head against his shoulder again, closed her eyes, and clutched to him as she had done before.

She could hear his quiet laugh as it echoed through his body. They kept getting higher and higher, until he got into the cold part of the sky. He then leveled off and kept flying straight into the cool air.

He glanced at his right side, and smiled at the young girl, who hadn't changed an inch in her position. "Katara?" he asked.

"What?" she screamed against his back, aggravated that she went along with this.

"Katara," his voice was gentle again, "I want you to let go of me." Instead Aang got the opposite effect, when her grip tightened on him like an octopus. It caused him to laugh at her reaction, as she shook her head against him.

"The last time that happened, I was spinning out of control! And it scared me so much that I never _ever_ want to experience it again!" she yelled at him.

"I promise I'll be right with you, and I won't let go of you until you choose to!"

Again the scared girl shook her head, "Why are you asking me to do this, when you know that I wouldn't ever let go?"

"Because," he said, "I want you to experience free falling in an air bending way!"

"No! I…I can't! What if I keep falling and you won't be there?"

Aang laughed louder at the statement she made. "Do you really think I would ever do that to you Katara?"

Katara didn't react to the question. She knew without a shadow of doubt that he would never let her fall to her death. But she remained quiet, not wanting to answer him.

"I know what you are thinking! You know I would _never _do that to you!" yelled Aang over his shoulder. "Please Katara." She shook her head again, letting him know that she wasn't going to give up.

"Katara…I need you to _trust _me again. I want to experience this with you. I will hold your hand the entire time if I have to, but please, I want you to trust me on this!"

She knew he wasn't going to land until he got his way with her, so she agreed with him under one condition, "If I do this and hate it, I'm going to break that Avatar nose of yours!"

Now it was his turn to be afraid, but he didn't show it to her as he smiled at the fragile woman. "Just let go…I'll be with you the _entire_ time."

It took Katara a few seconds to loosen her grip a little. She could feel her heart beating like a humming bird as she thought about _free falling_,as Aang called it. Now she was really starting to regret agreeing to this! Her hands were now lightly on his shoulders, as her feet were already floating through the air.

This time Aang decided to warn her, "Okay, once I turn to the left side, just fall. I'll be with you!" Her eyes were still closed as she heard his words. After ten seconds, he turned, and did exactly as he said…she let go, and began to fall.

Katara started to scream as soon as she let go, with her stomach facing the ground, and started to descend to the earth. "Your dead Avatar! So dead!"

The wind was blowing fiercely through her clothes and hair, with nothing to hold onto. For some reason, she decided to finally open up her eyes. The tears began to run up her head uncontrollably while still screaming in fear. However, it slowly, but surely became laughter. She was actually enjoying it.

By this time, Aang let her fall at least 100 feet before he came to her side. He slanted toward her right side, with her hands opened. His fingers barely touched hers, and grabbed on to it with powerful brace. It wasn't out of fear, but reassurance that he didn't leave her. He could tell she was enjoying herself, with her laughter echoing through the sky, as they both kept descending.

Katara looked over at Aang, seeing that his eyes were closed with a big grin on his face. She smiled at him, and let go of his hand. She then started to summon up water around her, and when she had the right amount she froze it into a thin long board. She placed her feet on it, and froze them to it as well, and the blissful girl started sky surfing. Flipping herself, and spinning through the sky with control over the air now.

When Aang saw this, he kicked himself in the butt, not having figured that trick out sooner than she did. He could see that she was having a blast, so he copied her, and joined up with the young woman. The world was spinning around them as their laughter filled up the halls of the spirits above them.

Katara stood up trying to again control her board, and when she finally had it she crouched, and could feel the speed picking up as she left Aang behind. She knew she only had a few more hundred feet to go, but she didn't want to stop just yet. She kept twisting, turning, and flipping through the sky with absolute control.

Aang appeared on her left side, in the same crouching position that she was. He started slowing down, grabbing on his back board with his left hand, while holding onto his glider with his other, and spun around a couple of more times, before he melted the ice and spread his hands and feet out so the wind could catch him.

When Katara saw what he did, she let go of the water, and opened her body up to the wind again. She looked down at the ground, and could see that it was getting closer and closer to her now. Aang dove underneath her, and opened up his glider a few feet below her, so that she could ease on top of it. As soon as she grabbed hold of it, Aang pulled them up, and started heading back up to the temple.

But Katara had a better idea. She screamed at Aang, "How long were we in the air for?"

He looked back up, "I would say maybe a good ten minutes. I put you up there pretty high!"

"I'm not ready to quit yet! Let's do it one last time!" she said giving him a cute wink and smile.

The air bender happily flew her back up to where they first started, easing back into a steady level and yelled, "I knew you would like it!" Katara smiled and rolled over to the right side, with the wind catching her again and spinning her.

She was finally able to get back on her stomach as flew down again. Aang decided to surprise her as he got under her with his back on the opened glider, and he just couldn't stop smiling at her and the way the wind was blowing at her.

"So what do you think?" he yelled.

"I love it! I feel so free up her, with nothing to hold me back!" she said as she inched slowly closer to him

"Why do you think I love it so much? Up here it doesn't matter who you are or what your past holds! It's just you and the wind!"

"I bet I know a way to make it a better experience for you!"

"I doubt it!" he yelled, "You just invented sky surfing, by using water, which was totally awesome! What more can you show me!" he laughed, seeing that they were almost at arms length.

Katara smiled at him, and said, "This!"

She put her arms out in front of her, grabbed his uniform, and pulled him into a kiss. She could feel the stiff lips under her as she realized that she had surprised him, but his lips softened as he began to kiss her back with eagerness. She felt the scab on his lip that she gave him that day, and was now sorry that she had messed up his mouth. He put his arms around her, and pulled her cool body against his warmth.

He could taste the honey on her lips that she used at dinner, causing his teeth to barely grab her lips, and then pressed back into another kiss. She put both of her hands on his face and pulled him even closer into her. Her hands dragged up to his hair, and back down to his neck, to his chest. She released herself from his luscious lips, and continued to kiss up and down his jaw line, as she tried to catch her breath. She moved down his neck, sucking on little parts of him for a second, and causing him shiver.

Aang didn't know what to do. He had never made out with a girl, let alone a beautiful girl…while in the _air_! But he went along with his instincts. He twisted his body in the air, putting her on bottom this time.

He could see the look of surprise in her, but her eyes rolled to the back of her head as soon as his lips were back on hers. His kisses were more determined as he memorized the taste of her, and how her lips were like water to him. It was something his body had needed for so long, and now she was extinguishing the fire within him.

He moved his lips away, towards her ear, and grabing her earlobe gently with his lips, causing her to catch her breath. Aang smiled at her reaction, and dragged his nose down her neckline, and began to kiss her shoulders. Katara had been still for a little bit, surprised at how good he was at this. She decided to retaliate back at him.

She pulled his head back up to hers, which he did willingly and placed his lips back on hers. Her hands still remained on his face, as she moved her lips to his little scar again, and then kissed his closed eyelids. While she was doing that, Aang put his lips right under her throat, and sliding sideways and back again, leaving moist marks that sent chills down her body.

All of the sudden Aang's protection instincts came on, as he _finally_ opened his eyes with only 50 feet left between them and the ground. Aang pulled away from Katara, and swung her on his back as she too finally saw the ground approaching quickly.

Luckily Aang had been keeping tabs on his glider that was floating around, which wasn't easy with Katara to distract him. He air bended the glider, grabbed onto it, and pulled himself up, just barely grazing his shirt on the snow. He flew right back up into the sky, and started heading back towards the temple.

When he finally landed, Katara got off, and her legs gave out. Aang stumbled a bit too, barely holding himself up. They both still felt like they were free falling again, with their stomachs left back in the night sky. They looked at each other, seeing that they were both out of breath.

Katara was now lying on her back as she spoke, "I bet" she breathed out, and catching her breath at every word, "you won't…ever…see…free falling…like that…again."

The Monk used his glider like a cane, walked towards her, and sat down next to her as she was still gasping for air. "Oh, you have no idea!" he smiled down at her.

Katara smiled back at him, seeing the eyes of that 12 year old she found so long ago. She propped herself up with her arms, and kissed him gently on the lips, making sure that what they just did wasn't a dream. She knew it wasn't as soon as she felt the cut on his lip, and how amazingly sweet they still tasted.

Aang kissed her back with a soft moan that escaped his mouth, feeling her smile against him. He placed his hand on the top part of her neck, while his thumb made little circles around her tan soft cheeks. His hand traced down to her shoulders, down her arm, and back up. The water bender trembled under his delicate hands, wanting him to put them on her naked hips.

Katara placed her hand on his chest, and pushed him down without leaving from his mouth. Aang smiled through her kiss, as her hands drew up to his face, and into his hair, pressing her cool body harder against his heated chest. The air bender moved his right hand from her arm, and down to her hips, grasping at her skin. His left hand went to the back of her spine, and started to draw on her with an airy touch, that made it tickle on her. They didn't know how long they had been there, and didn't care…until a voice broke it up.

"Nice!" said a kid from behind them, making Katara and Aang stop. She looked up, while the Avatar looked upside down at them.

"Girl on top, that's new!" said another one as they bumped shoulders laughing.

"Beat it!" Katara yelled at the boys, still remaining on top of Aang. The teenagers didn't move, and just kept looking at them with smirks on their faces. The benders both realized the two young teen boys wouldn't leave anytime, with a show going on in front of them.

Katara looked over at Aang, and locked eyes, giving him an evil little smile, which he recognized as payback. And the next thing the boys knew, they were frozen in place from their necks down.

Aang busted out laughing at the boys, as Katara got up sadly from his physique, and looked between the two of them. "Next time, I won't be as lenient."

The young water bender turned to Aang, who now stood there with his hands in his pockets, with a smirk on his face now. She walked over to him, grabbed his collar, and pulled him into another small kiss.

The young monk knew he would never get tired of kissing the only girl that he ever had a crush on…let alone loved. It was both terrifying and amazing to him. When she released him from her grip, he put forehead on hers, and began to chuckle.

"So _this_ is what you meant about a girl having her ways?" he asked nodding his head toward the scared frozen kids.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He smiled again, "Do you remember the time when we were looking for Toph, and those boys wouldn't give us the information we needed?"

She nodded at him again, trying to see what he was getting at.

"The boys walked off, and you said you would handle it and ran after them. And the next thing I knew, you got the information out of them. And when I asked, you said, _'A girl has her ways'_. _Now_ I understand!" he said and continued to laugh at her. Katara blushed at the memory, and laughed too.

"How do you remember all of these things?" she asked

"Because…ever since you came into my life, I've wanted nothing _more _than you in it. Even if all I had was a handful of memories of you in them, good or bad, I would cherish them for the rest of my life. And I've had a huge crush on you since I woke up in your arms…" Aang then stopped himself, from making a fool of himself in front of her. He felt his cheeks heat up, and looked away.

"You know, I love it when you blush." said the smiling water girl, "I don't seem to have that effect on anyone, but you."

Aang decided to use his best little kid voice on her, and said, "I'm sorry, but you still make me nervous sometimes…" he said. Katara looked at him with a serious face as she arched her eye brows at him, waiting for him to confess. "Okay, fine! You still make me so nervous."

Katara smiled at him, and got on her tiptoes and kissed him again. Then she whispered in his ear, "That's what I thought."

"Whoa!" yelled Tao as he rolled out into the scene of the crime. Aang and Katara looked up in surprise. He moved to look between the two boys who were still frozen, and chattering their teeth now, and then looked back at the two benders in front of him.

"What happened to you guys? Your hairs make you look like you just went through a tornado or something?" Tao asked with a strange look.

They both looked at each other, as if actually seeing one another for the first time. Aang's hair was sticking half up, and the other half straight up, allowing his arrow to show for the first time. Katara's hair was all tangled up, with a big poof on top of her head.

All of the sudden and idea came to Tao, "You guys didn't…out here? I mean you didn't…you know…?" he stuttered through his words, trying not to say it out loud.

"No!" they both screamed.

Aang continued the explanation, "I took Katara free falling, and it was…fun!" he smiled down at Katara, with a spark in his eyes. "She also taught me how to sky surf."

"Sky surfing? Now that's what I'm talking about! Katara you gotta teach me!" he yelled.

Katara smiled down at him; "I think I can handle that" she said and winked at him.

This made Tao so excited he wanted to jump out of his chair, but calmed himself as to why he really came out here. "Well we made sleeping arrangement for you two. Unfortunately we are kind of packed out here, so are you okay with staying in a small room together?"

Aang became silent when Tao asked the question. His heart was beating really fast, casing him tense up now. Katara felt sudden heat on her back from the air bender behind her, and decided to talk this time.

"That will be fine. We have both slept in the same room before, so it's not a problem." she said. Katara understood why Aang couldn't answer the question. Yes, at long last they kissed…in a way that no one else would _ever_ experience in their life time. So how hard could it be with for them to be in the same room? But she knew it wasn't going to be that simple.

"Great! You two are in the room next to the fountain. Your gear is already there, and waiting." Tao said, as he turned his chair and wheeled away. He looked at the boys who were still frozen, and laughed quietly.

Katara started to follow Tao, and stopped when she notice Aang wasn't following her. "You coming Avatar Aang?"

Aang looked at her and gave her an apologetic look. "Yes, sorry!" he said, as he ran to her side, and started walking to their room.

"Hey!" one of the boys from the ice yelled who couldn't turn his head to see them, "what about us?"

Katara turned back to him and said, "I said I would be _lenient _towards you…and that's my way of showing it. Have fun boys!" Even from a distance she could still hear their apologetic cries to them, but she chose to ignore them. It took them some time to get to the room, as they continued stepping carefully through people who were sleeping soundly on the hard floors.

At long last they came into their room, and Tao was right…it was definitely a small room. The two heads of the thin beds were touching each other, while a small square of the room had their stuff in it.

"Well," he said, "ladies first."

Katara grinned at his chivalry, "My thanks good sir." she said in a sarcastic tone when she walked in the room.

She stepped over the beds, to her stuff, and got out her white swimsuit garmets. When he saw her slipping off her one shoulder strap, Aang shut the door, to give her some privacy. He leaned against the wall outside, and waited for a few minutes.

His thoughts were racing through his mind of what happened up to this point. At one point he was telling his battle with Ozai, to flying and sky surfing with Katara, and then…she kissed him…in the _sky_, while free falling…and then almost getting killed. _"Another day for the Avatar"_, he thought, smiling at himself.

His thoughts lingered back to Katara's honey tasting lips, and how amazing it was to suck on. He would dream many nights of what it they would feel like again, and if he would ever get the guts to kiss her again. But now, it could be different for once in his life.

He was now the happiest person on the planet, as he saw how much she wanted him, and he her. There was no mistaking it now; they were a couple of kids in love, or at least Aang was. The boy looked up to the ceiling, as if trying to see the moon through it, and smiled. _"Thank you Yue." _he said with a whisper.

Aang was so used to flying, that he never got butterflies anymore. But Katara was able to bring it all back again when he first started with Monk Gyatso. He was afraid when he took his first air bending lesson, but it became easier for him when he learned that _he _controlled the air around him. Now, there was no way of getting used to it with Katara there by his side in the air. She change the ways of the skies, forever.

By this time, Katara opened the door, allowing him to eneter. He walked in and looked over at Katara who was bending down and looking through her stuff. His eyes darted to her, and started to stare her again, with the shadows of the candle light on her.

The shadows made her legs look longer and smoother, causing him to feel like he was back again in the air with her. He looked at the base of her back, seeing the light bone structure on her. While part of her, smooth hair was covering three quarters of her back. She was indeed a Goddess…even under the shadows.

The young girl could feel that Aang was starring down at her, and it only made her smile. She looked at the young air bender, and then he looked away quickly and started taking off his layer of thin clothing.

Now, it was Katara's turn to watch, as the muscles on his body were obeying his every move. Her jaw tightened up, as she continued to watch him. He was no longer that scrawny little kid anymore, but a young man who had carried the burden of the world with him for too long. And it showed in every vein and scar on him. When he was done with his shirts, Aang headed over to his bed, and started to move it.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as she stood up with her water tribe comb in hand.

Aang smiled at her, "I'm so used to sleeping on the floor, that I figured why waste another bed. So I'm putting it on top of yours, so you can be a bit more comfortable."

"You don't have to do that. The floors are freezing, and I'll be fine." she said as she started to bush her hair now.

He smiled a silly smile at her and said, "It's not a big deal. You forget that I slept in these temples 100 years ago, and I'm used the ground now." With that said, he air bended the skinny mattress onto hers, and straightened it up for her.

Katara sighed knowing that she wasn't going to win this battle, so she turned her back to him, and continued to brush her hair.

He smiled over at her, and walked over to his bag that was next to hers. Katara could still feel the heat on him, when he barely grazed her arm. It like he was having a fever, but without the symptoms of one.

The monk bended out of his pack the nomad clothes, that Zuko gave him, and rolled them into a long tube. Katara gave him a strange looked when he did this to his clothes.

"What?" he said, "they make a perfect pillow." Katara shook her head at him, and continued to brush her hair, while her peripheral vision continued gazing at him.

Aang place his "pillow" on the side where Katara's head would rest, bent down and laid down. As soon as his body hit the floor, he sucked in the air through his teeth as he felt the ice cold floor beneath him. He needed the floor to help him out a bit with his body temperature that still continued to be hot. _"Will my body ever cool down when I am around her?"_ he asked in his mind.

After lying on the ground for a few seconds, he couldn't believe how tired he felt. Today had been a long, tiring, thrilling, and also the most electrifying day ever. His stomach growled in the large room, forgetting that he hadn't eaten anything for dinner, but he was too tired find food and eat at this point. His eyelids started getting heavier and heavier in the dark room, and it started becoming harder for him to stay awake with Katara there. Without meaning to, Aang closed his eyes, with the last image of the most beautiful girl the spirits had ever fabricated.

Katara turned her head, at the young bender, as his stomach growled. She forgot about him not eating anything during the whole day, except for breakfast. She put her brush back into her bag, and started looking for some food for him. Before she got anything out, she looked back at him, and could see that he was already fast asleep.

She sighed and smiled at the tattooed boy, who also had a smile on his sleepy face. It was so easy with Aang in her life that it was almost like breathing air. And if this was how it was going to be between them, then happiness was finally finding its way to her at long last. She shook her head at him, as she climbed into to her bed, with her head next to his. It didn't take long at all for her to fall asleep, as she listened to his slow methodic breathing. She dreamt of the sky kisses that they would forever hold to memory.

**They FINALLY kissed! Hope this was an awesome Kataang chapter for you guys out there who have been wondering when they would finally be together! I also hope you liked the free falling scene as well. At first i wasn't sure if you would like it, and i wasn't going to write it because i wasn't sure how to. But then my iPod shuffled to _30 Seconds to Mars-Kings and Queens,_ and i just imagined them with this song. I've had that idea in my head for a long time, and i figured what the heck! If it sucks, then at least i tried!**

**Sorry for disappointing anyone out there, and i hope you continue to read it anyways! ;)**

**Thanks for reading, and please REVIEW! Tell me what you think?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, Im so sorry that it has taken me forever to finish this chapter. Last week i went on vacation, and usually someone brings a laptop, but this year no one did, so i had to suffer not giving you guys another chapter. And the week before that, i worked double shifts everyday, so I was pretty exhausted. But anywho, I thought I would let you know, because I am not done writing this story. Again I apologize for all of you guys who have been waiting patiently, and I plan to put up another chapter this week, no matter what. **

**Also, to aplogize ahead of time for my spelling and grammar in this chapter. I was trying to hurry up and put this up, so forgive me for the mistakes, and if you find any, just don't tell me. I already know there are some.**

**Thanks again to my fans out there who have been loyal, and to the newcomers as well. I hope you like this chapter. I don't own Avatar! Back to the story.**

Aang's dreams of Katara didn't last very long, when the scene suddenly changed. He walked into a battlefield, full of dead and bleeding men and women. He walked through them all, careful not to touch any of them. He could smell the stench of blood, and dirt mixed together. The trees around him were burning, and then he heard a scream from the top of a hill, and then the screams multiplied. Aang ran as fast as he could to the death cries, and when he got there, he found fresh bodies that had been slaughtered. He bent down at one of them, and saw short red hair on a girl in a Keyoshi warrior's outfit.

"_No."_ he said.

He gently placed his hands on the right shoulder, turned the body over, he saw Suki's face. He saw that even in death, the fear on someone's face never disappeared. Aang let go of her, and fell to the floor as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes followed her up her left limp arm, and up to her hands that were still holding firm to another's. The colors of blue and red were mixed in the deformed man that held her hand, and Aang knew without a doubt who it was. The Avatar crawled over towards him, removing the mud of blood from the face that lay sideways. Sokka's eyes were closed, which he was thankful for, because seeing the fear in someone else only made him want to throw up.

Aang leaned back onto his hands, and when they reach what the thought was the ground, he felt extremely rough hands underneath his. Slowly he turned his head, and saw a girl the same age as him. He removed the dark hair from the young girls face, and when he tried looking for her eyes, he found none to look at. She wore a green warrior's outfit of the Earth Kingdom, and saw that she had no shoes on.

"_Toph…"_ he whispered, as he looked down at the lifeless Blind Bandit that taught him everything he needed on surviving, and being tougher than rock. And now, now she was dead, along with others that he loved. Aang got up, and backed away quickly, but tripped onto his back from the two more deceased individuals.

When he got up to his elbows, he looked up at the dead corpses and saw Zuko, with Mai's head lying on top of his chest. Zuko had icicles that went right through his stomach, and not wanting to melt in the blistering inferno. And Mai had her own, specialized daggers that were everywhere on her back side. Aang wanted to scream, but for some reason his voice just couldn't give out. He got up for the dead corpses, and ran as fast as he could away from the dead…but there was no end to the maze of death. He then heard a horrible scream of bloody terror from the top of the hill, and ran as fast as he could. Not caring anymore of hitting people along the way. He was going to save this last person, no matter what.

It was like running through sand, and it only made it harder when he tripped and had to get back up. Out of breath, he finally reached the top, and saw a man holding Katara by the throat as blood began to drip down her body. He could see that everything in her body was broken, but her neck. Now anger and fear grew in him as Aang ran as fast as he could to the killer. He jumped at the shadow, and he went right through him and Katara. When Aang looked up, his own eyes grew big as he saw the dark figure in the shadows was bald, and that _it_ had the tattoo of the air nomads. But what really scared him was the fact that the tattoos were blood red, instead of blue, and that when he opened his eyes at Aang, the red tattoos lit up its body.

Aang shook his head as if trying to wake up from this nightmare, but instead of being on the ground where he was, he felt a sudden break in a neck from his hands. He opened his eyes, and looked down at his hands. He immediately let go of Katara, but it was too late as he watched the lifeless water bender plummet to the ground. He looked down at the one woman he loved so dearly, and felt the life go out of him too. Aang's knees gave out underneath him, making his knees hit the gory gravel rocks.

The air bender reached out to see the face that looked the other way, but stopped when he saw his hands were bloodstained. His eyes traveled down his clothes were soaked in it so much red, that it was still dripping off of his clothes. His eyes caught a glimpse of what remained of clear water, that was beginning to mix with the red fluid, and knew that was most likely from Katara defending herself against him. The tears started running down his dry bloodied up face, leaving behind a streak of evidence. Aang looked back at the puddle again, only to see that it was clearer than anything he had seen in what felt like years. When he looked down at the reflection, he finally saw it…saw him. Ozai was in the Avatar.

"No!" Aang screamed as loud as he could, waking up to a room he didn't recognize, but then everything came rushing back to him. His entire body was wet with cold and warm sweat dripping down him. Immediately the dream was coming back to memory, causing the monk's breathing to accelerate. He always had nightmares, but couldn't remember how they started; however, this one, he knew couldn't forget even if he wanted to.

Katara rolled out of bed when she heard the scream of terror coming from Aang, and making her fall onto the cold ground. She scrambled to where he was supposed to be lying down at, but wasn't there. The room was quiet for a second, but she heard panting from the corner of where his feet were suppose to be at. She looked into his shadowy face, which the moon caused, she saw shining of circles that had the same fear when Aang told the story of Ozai and him. It was still dark, and judging by the moon, she knew that they had only been a sleep for a few hours. Katara reached her hands out for him, inducing him to flinch at her touch on his skin. She felt heat and sweat on his shoulder, but also something sticky…something that smelled like rust almost.

"Aang," she whispered, trying to calm him, "I can't see anything. I need you to shed some light in here…can you do that for me?"

The darkness around Aang was so unbearable, that it made him throw up. Even with Katara there, there wasn't anything she could do to help him. He couldn't tale, so he just nodded very slowly, hoping not to gag in front of her again. The Avatar opened up his palm, and a small flame lit up the room.

Katara scooted closer to him, with the very small flame in his hand. His hair was all wet and sticking to his face as he continued to look at her. As if seeing her alive for the first time. But what really caught her attention, was that there was red liquid dripping on the side of his face, where his _healed_ scar was. She grabbed his face, with both hands, and turned it sideways; making sure it wasn't the darkness tricking her. But it wasn't a trick. She took his arm that held the small inferno, and moved it down to his lower body.

Aang hadn't been paying attention to what Katara was doing to him, as his mind continued to find the answer to his nightmare. The images of his friends, and the girl he had killed with one hand, continued to cloud his mind. He remembered the sound of bones snapping on Katara's neck, and could still feel the life going out of her when she fell to the ground. All of the sudden, he heard a loud gasp from the girl in front of him.

He quickly stood up, and got into a fighting stance with flames in both hands. Aang was ready to defend her, but she wasn't in any sort of danger. But her face showed bewilderment and worry. Her eyes were not on his face, but his stomach. He finally looked down at what she was looking at, and saw it too…blood.

Every scar that _was_ healed was now bleeding again, and even the burn marks on him were fresh. When he moved his hands to the red stains, he saw that even the cuts on his hands were bleeding out too. Aang didn't know what to think as his mind raced through what was going on, but didn't have a single clue. The pain came rushing back at him, as if he was fighting Ozai again. The water bender stood up in front of him, without taking her eyes off of his wounds.

She started walking towards him, but when he saw movement, the flames went out. The next sound she heard was a door opening, and a breeze that hitting her. Without hesitation, Katara ran after the young man. When she got out of the room, she looked up at the sky and saw that he had already taken off on his glider. Katara watched him for a second, and ran through the crowd of slumbering people. She did her best to avoid stepping on people, but couldn't help it as she ran faster. Katara could still barely see him, as she got onto Appa, without his saddle on.

She grabbed the reigns and yelled, "Appa, Yip yip!" The bison moved his tail up, and hitting the ground to make him fly. There pace quickened as the little dot in front of her, was now starting to form into an air bender.

Aang didn't know what to do at the moment as he continued flying into the crescent moon, but right now he was too scared to even start thinking about what just happened. He _needed _to fly, and clear his head from this waking nightmare he was in. The cold breeze on his wet skin was helping him a little, but his body temperature was still burning him up. He had been feeling this way before, but it was usually when he was around Katara, and now, now it was different. He looked back down at his messed up body, as the blood was either dripping off into the air, or it was getting on his pants. Then out of nowhere, he heard a roar, the roar of a bison near him.

He looked back, and saw that he was being followed by Katara. Aang could see the confusion and fear in her eyes, but he didn't want to stop flying. This was the only way for him to think, and set things straight. But his cuts started to burn like fire. His vision started becoming blurry as he looked around in the sky, and hearing the voice of an angel calling his name.

He paid no attention and continued soaring through the sky, but that didn't last long when he heard the sound of broken bones in his rib cage. The pain became so excruciating; that it felt like someone had snapped his chest in two with a metal sledge hammer. Aang let go of his glider, and started to fall, screaming in pain. His heart was beating against his ribs, and it caused him even more pain. The agony was so horrific to Aang, that he finally blacked out in the sky, with the screaming of Katara calling his name

ooooooOoooooOooooo

Aang's eyelids opened half way, but didn't stay open very long. He felt soft hands take his face, and whisper, "Drink this. It'll help with the pain." He obeyed the voice, and drank it. He could feel that he was wrapped up in something tight, but he didn't know what. His vision was still blurry, as he looked around for clues to his whereabouts, but blacked out once again.

ooooooOoooooOooooo

The air bender opened his eyes again, as he heard _many _voices around him, but he still couldn't recognize the people around him. His pain had doubled since the last time he woke, but the question was, how long had he been out? He felt hands grab hold of his body, as if he was fighting them all off. He kept hearing someone screaming in his ear, but couldn't figure out who was doing it.

Someone placed a hand under his neck, and lifting his head up. A different voice told him, "Please drink this." And of course, he did it without hesitation. But somehow the liquid went into his nose, causing him to cough and spit some of it out. It was still enough to knock him unconscious once again.

ooooooOoooooOooooo

Fortunately for Aang, the dream that he had never came back. He was grateful for it, but still scared that it could come back at anytime. The air bender started to open his eyes to a room he did not recognize at all. The air was no longer cool, but a summers hot day, and the sky was still dark. The monk looked around and saw wood everywhere, with nothing really on the walls but a few painted pictures. He could smell the saltiness of the ocean now, as he heard the sound of waves crashing against each other. When he tried to move, the pain was shooting at every point on his body. Aang tried to hold his breath, thinking it would stop the pain, but it only made it worse. He removed the covers, and looked down at himself.

The air bender was covered in wraps of white bandages that looked fresh, but could still see some blood spot on them. "What happened?" he asked himself out loud, as if hoping he would answer his own rhetorical question. Aang gently placed his right hand on the broken ribs, thinking it would cause him less pain, but even the smallest amount of pressure made it hurt. The monk moved his legs to the side of the bed, and gently touched the floor as if it was sheer ice underneath his feet. Little beads of sweat started to form on above his lips as he walked with a small limp.

When he got up, he looked down at the bed and could see that he left an imprint of his body on the bed, surrounded by dry blood and sweat. He continued looking for something to hold himself up, and at long last he found his staff, and leaned on it while his left shoulder scraped against the wall. The monk had at long last reached the door, and placed his left hand on it. His ribs began to fuss at him again, but not as badly as before. All of the sudden he began to heat up again, and started getting cold shivers. It was as if he was fighting a fever, but it was stronger than just any sickness.

He found the strength slide the door opened, and found Suki standing right in front of him. Her eyes were watery as she looked at him, and hugged him tightly. This time he couldn't hold back his pain, and grunted loudly at her embrace. She let go of him, and he fell to all fours, gasping for some air.

"I'm so sorry Aang!" said Suki regretfully, "But we have been so worried about you for the past couple of days!"

"Wha-what are you talking about? How did I end up here? Where am I?" he asked

Suki gave him a confused look, "You're at the house on Ember Island…don't you remember?"

Aang tried to remember quickly, but his head felt like needles were poking at him constantly, causing him pain again. The only thing he remembered was the dream, blood, and falling through the sky. The Keyoshi warrior bent down, and wrapped her arms under his and picked him up. She let him steady himself with his staff, and then placed his left arm around her head.

"I'm, I'm not sure?" he said. And out of nowhere Sokka popped in front of Suki, and ran into him, with a platypus bear hug.

"Ah!" screamed Aang, but he wouldn't let go of him.

"Aang! Your finally awake man!" he said with enthusiasm, and not meaning to crush him, but he couldn't help it.

"Sokka-I-can't-breath!" he said with no air in his body, and his ribs felt like they were breaking all over again. The pony tail guy dropped him unintentionally, forgetting that he had very little strength left in the air bender.

Aang fell to the floor instantly, and tried to hold his scream in, and grunted for a few long seconds. Sweat was dripping down his nose, as he continued to breathe even more slowly than usual. Once he was able to breathe normally, Sokka and Suki bent down, and put his arms around their necks. Sokka held his staff with his right hand, while the other held Aang's arm around Sokka's neck. They carefully walked him down stairs, trying not to hurt him in any more.

"Sorry about what happened back there." said Sokka, "I was just happy to see you alive and well…in a manner of speaking."

The air bender gave him a smile to the side, and looked back at Suki, "What happened to me? Why do I feel like I just fought Toph, and I was the blind one this time?"

"Aang, you've been in and out of consciousness for the past five days. Your fever was absolutely blistering hot, and you were constantly moving in your bed. Last night was probably the first time you actually seemed to rest." said Suki.

The monk looked back at Sokka, who only nodded at him. But then he caught what looked like a black eye on his right side. "What happened to your eye Sokka?"

Sokka looked back at him and said, "You were so out of control, that you ended punching me in the face. It was a definite sneak attack on your part, you little monk!" Aang heard Suki laughing quietly to herself, and he figured that whatever happened, he had somehow _deserved _it?

They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and when he looked up, he saw everyone, including Tao, but not Katara there. They carried him over to a long chair, and placed him gently on it. The pain was so awful when they placed him down, but he was able to hold it all in this time. He still felt exhausted, but the Aang needed to know what had been happening through those days of darkness.

Toph came over to his side, and punched as hard as she could on his good arm, "Don't you ever scare me like that again you Air Head! You almost gave me a heart attack you little jerk!" Even though she punched him in the good arm, it might as well have been broken after that.

"Enough!" he screamed, "From now on, no more touching me today! I can't handle anymore inflicting pain right now!" Aang took a breath, as he calmed himself, "Now can someone please tell me what has been going on since I blacked out?"

He looked around at all of the faces around him, as if they were scared of him now. No one spoke about what had happened, but he needed to know how bad it was, or if he had hurt anyone else.

Zuko spoke up, "When Katara brought you back from…wherever you two went, we found you in the saddle shaking do death. Your wounds were so deep, that we weren't able to stop the bleeding until Iroh came and helped us out. He said you were in so much pain, that it was causing you to fight against us." The Fire Lord intertwined his fingers with Mai, who remained quiet.

Suki continued for him, "Katara drove Appa to get here as fast as she could; she was just as exhausted as you were, but she was able to do it. She tried to heal your wounds, but she said for some reason it wasn't working. It was like her touch had no effect on you at all…which has never happened. When she brought you in, you couldn't stop moving, so Iroh was able to make this _special_ tea that could calm your mind and body, but we had to give you triple the dose, because it didn't last long."

"Your heartbeat was like a beat of death." said Toph, "It was like at any second you were going to die. It would slow down to such a low heart beat, that I couldn't tell if you were alive, but then you would start thrashing in your bed, and ended up punching Sokka in the eye that first night!"

"Hey!" Sokka screamed, "He surprised me, and I wasn't prepared for what was about to come!"

Toph laughed, "Oh right, says the _best_ warrior in his tribe!"

"Easy you two!" yelled Tao, as he wheeled around in front of Aang, "This isn't helping Aang any, so shut up!"

The air bender shook his head, "Tao, what are you doing here?"

Tao smiled, "Good to see you too Aang. Katara asked me to come when she found out she needed someone else to help her out, so I agreed and ever since then I've been here." Aang nodded, wishing he could remember.

The room was silenced, but Tao continued with the story, "Iroh said, that…your body was going through a massive change. He said that in all of his years, and knowledge of history, he didn't know what was happening for once. Katara stayed at your bedside all of those days without sleep, and you wouldn't take the tea from anyone but her. It was like through all of that madness you were in; she was able to reach out to you?"

Aang remembered a certain beautiful voice, but he never knew it was hers. Every time he heard a voice, it was slow motion, and couldn't understand it.

"So," asked Mai, "what was it that you were dreaming for the past five days, Aang?"

The air bender looked up at the questioned faces around him, "Nothing." he said.

Everyone looked at Toph, but she shook her head, "He's not lying guys."

"What?" screamed Sokka, causing Aang to flinch to the yelling, "There is no way I got a black eye for nothing! He had to have dreamt of something that caused him to do this!" he said pointing at his bad eye.

"Wait!" shouted Aang, "Did-did I…I didn't…?"

"No," said Suki with a smile, "Katara is just resting right now. Five, or six days of sleep does a number to a person. And from what I've heard, you of all people understand that concept."

He nodded at what she meant. Four days before they decided to invade the Fire Nation on Black Sun, he wasn't able to sleep at all. His dreams kept getting worse, until they were able to make a bed of sheep fur on a rock, and he slept well for the first time. What he would give to have those kind of dreams again, unlike the one he had so many days ago.

Iroh walked into the room, and saw that everyone was surrounding the young boy. Aang was literally in the middle of the circle, and questions were being constantly thrown at him.

"Leave the boy alone." said Iroh eating an apple, "The last thing he needs right now is stress on his body…which he probably already has it."

Aang thanked Iroh with a head nod, and everyone around him finally gave him some breathing room. "Master Iroh," he asked, "is there by any chance I can speak to you in private?"

All eyes were back on Aang when he said these words, but he truly needed help. The young boy needed Iroh to tell him what the hell was going on inside of him, and why he was bleeding out of his scars. He had so many questions that needed to be answered, and if Iroh couldn't answer, then he would ask the Avatar's before him.

Iroh walked to the young man, and put his arm around his neck and walked him outside slowly. Aang told him to take him on Appa, so that the others wouldn't try and get Toph to follow them and listen. She was indeed good at what she did, and normally he didn't mind, but for once, he needed her to stay out of this…_all_ of them. When they were finally in the air with Appa, he looked up at Iroh, who sat patiently. Waiting to hear what he had to say only to him.

"Master," he began, "is it possible for Avatar's to see the future?"

Iroh nodded, "There have been occasions where Avatar's could see the course of events, but they never found it to be the precise way they predicted it."

Hearing that made Aang happy, but this was so different. "So you are telling me its impossible then?"

"Oh no! Even though the dreams weren't precise, some of it still happened. It just wasn't how _they_ saw it."

Now the fear was building back up. Even _if_ his dream was remotelytrue, then that meant that a lot of people, and possibly his friends were all going to die. "Is there any way to prevent such a…premonition from happening?"

Iroh looked at the sick, and wounded air bender, and seeing that whatever he dreamed about scared him more than anything. "To be honest Aang, there is no stopping the future, or the events that occur. If you were somehow able to prevent it, it would only come back in a different way."

Now Aang was starting to panic at this accusation, "So I can't do _anything_?"

Iroh breathed out, "You can't change the future, because, as I already said, it would come to you in a different manner. But that doesn't mean you can't be prepared for it either. Aang, why don't you tell me of this…dream?"

Aang nodded, "The sky is dark, no stars or moon. I'm running through piles of dead bodies in front of myself. I stumble onto bodies that I recognized…Sokka, Suki, Toph, Zuko, and even Mai." The monk gulped at the fresh memory of the dead souls he saw, but he felt acid building up inside of him, making him to throw up. He was in so much pain, and it only made it worse that his body hadn't eaten the entire week almost. Iroh handed him a jug of water, which he drank reluctantly, and poured it over his hot body. The cool air was able to calm his nerves, and even neutralize his stomach.

"And then," the air bender continued, "I start running away from them, but it seems to never end as I continued running through the dead. I hear a scream that would scare the spirits themselves, and I started running to the noise."

Aang started to tear up at his this point, "I saw a dark figure holding Katara by the neck. He had the same tattoos as me, but instead of them blue, they were a venomous red, and his eyes glowed the same color. I ran and jumped…but I went through them both. When I looked back up, I was no longer on the ground, but instead I was in that man holding Katara.

The monk clenched his hands, as he tried to hold back the tears, "Then I felt…" but he couldn't control the water fall that poured down his face, as he remembered the feel of her neck breaking. It was like snapping thin twig in half. He started panting, and losing himself in his memories. The burn marks started to burn all over again, and the pain became so unbearable that he threw up again. Iroh tended to the young boy, trying to comfort him.

Once he was able to calm himself miraculously, he wiped the tears away and continued, "I felt something snap in my hand…I looked into Katara's eyes, and they reflected back to me as her body fell lifeless before me. When I saw what I did, I reached out, and then stopped. My body was covered _entirely_ of blood, which it was still dripping off of my shirt and pants." Aang closed his eyes, and tried to listen to the breeze in the air, but it wasn't enough of a distraction for him.

Iroh sat quietly in fear of what this young man had dreamt that night, but he didn't know what to think of his dream. It seemed like the inevitable to think of Aang as a cold blooded killer, who killed everyone, he cared and loved. It was in his nature to help everyone, and not destroy them. He was someone who was willing to give his own life up for the good of humanity.

"But what scared me the most" he said, making Iroh look up at him, "was that when I looked down into a reflection of water, I was looking at…your brother. He was in my body, and I could see everything, but couldn't stop him." Aang whipped his sweaty forehead, and waited for Iroh to respond to this dream. His hair was finally drying up, as they continued to soar.

They flew for a couple of hours in silence, but there was no response. Finally Iroh did speak, "I think it be best if you spoke to your own past lives. This is something that is beyond my knowledge young Avatar. I cannot tell you what can be true, and what can't be." He gave him an apologetic look and said, "I'm so sorry."

This made Aang angry, "What do you mean you can't help me you old fool! How is it that you can take back an entire nation, and given me advice on many things, and _you_ can't help me now?" Aang didn't know where this was all coming from, he had always paid his respects to Iroh, but it was like he was a different person somehow.

Iroh raised his hands in defense, "Aang, I need you to calm down."

"No!" he yelled, and started to feel fire burning inside of him, "The last thing you can do is tell me what I should do!" and out of no where, he kicked fire at Iroh, and sending him through the sky. As soon as the general's body disappeared, Aang shook his head, feeling pain inside of him. But he ignored it, and jumped on Appa's head, and reared him to the falling Master.

When he saw him, he gently eased him onto the saddle, and went over to him, but stopped himself. He knew that if he went closer to him, it was very possible that he could kill him.

Iroh stood up and dusted himself, "I haven't been that surprised by anyone, since Azula hit me with her fire that day." he laughed.

Aang didn't understand how Iroh couldn't be mad at him, but he just seemed so calm…just like he always was.

"How is it that you aren't mad at me?" he asked with much shame in his voice.

The Master looked up at him, "I can see that whatever happened, in this_ dream_ of yours, might have something to do with it. I knew that it wasn't you, but I must suggest that you talk to the Avatar's before you. I may give out advice, but I think I'll stick with my tea making Air Bender."

Aang nodded his head, and then he fell to his knees, not caring about the pain, as he looked at the floor. "Please forgive me Master Iroh…I don't know what came over me."

Iroh walked to him, and put his left hand on his still wet hair, "I know you are, and there is nothing to forgive. Besides, I always wondered what free falling felt like. Katara made it seem like _so_ much fun, but I am too old for this sort of stuff."

Aang looked up and smiled at Iroh, who was also smiling back, knowing that something had indeed happened between him and Katara. Iroh helped him up, and then helped Aang to sit down. Iroh sat near him, as if nothing had happened a few minutes ago. But it didn't mean he wasn't thinking about what just happened. Aang truly didn't know what was going on. It was like he finally snapped, and all he felt was anger for some reason. He knew it was a long shot at Iroh knowing anything, and yet he reacted like this?

It didn't take them long to finally land in the sand, near the house. When Iroh got up and tried to help the monk, Aang shook his head at him, "No. I'm going to fly a little bit longer if you don't mind. Tell the others that I'll be back when I can." Iroh nodded, and jumped off the great beast's back, and saw them disappear into the moon.

Aang had already asked if Appa was okay with staying in the sky a bit longer, and the bison roared at him, communicating that he could. He sat in the middle of the saddle in Indian style, and even though the pain was unbearable, he knew he needed to do this now. He closed his eyes, and listened to the wind that blew against his hot and sweaty body. Aang didn't know how long he sat there, but he had at long last entered into the spirit world.

All of the sudden, he felt no pain in his body, no bandages, no cuts or burns. He felt like his free spirit self once again, but it was soon interrupted by a group of many men and women in front of him. He clamed himself, and bowed to his past lives. Avatar Roku stepped out of the group, and bowed back at him.

"_Roku," he asked, "I believe something terrible is coming soon. I had this dream in which I believe I could have seen the future. But my real question is, is possible for it to be true?"_

"_We Avatar's" he began, "have lived through and seen many things. The past and the future. We don't know what we are capable of until it happens, Aang."_

"_Has another Avatar _ever_ had a dream like what I have had?"_

_Roku shook his head, "No. None of us have ever seen anything so precise like you have."_

"_What do you mean _precise_?"_

"_Yes, we have all had glimpses of future events, but we were always missing something. Like faces would be blurred, sometimes we could only hear things, or it was just an instant flash at what we saw. But yours is different, you saw everything around you, and you could actually _feel_. That is something none of us have experienced before."_

_Aang wasn't sure how to react to this, "In my dream, I see Ozai, but I see him in me…what does this mean? Am I going to be like Ozai as when I get older? Or that he is going to kill everyone I know? Please, tell me what you think Roku!"_

_Roku's eyes showed no emotion, "Aang…when you bent his energy, you did something that none of us have ever done before. And we believe that it's possible that Ozai's spirit is in fact, in you."_

_Aang backed away from Roku, as he looked at the group of Avatar's behind him, "No! that's impossible! I defeated him, and the energy inside of me was unbendable! The lion turtles said I could win if I did this!"_

_Roku shook his head, "I'm so sorry that you have to be the one to carry this with you Aang, but if this vision is true, Ozai will take over your body. And he _will_ everyone around you…saving the ones closest to your heart for last._

_Aang clenched his fist, "I won't allow that to happen! I'll do whatever I can to protect them _all_!"_

"_We know you will Aang, and it is possible that we have a solution to this riddle. There may still be a chance to help prevent this disaster from coming true."_

"_I said I would do whatever it takes, and I meant it."_

_This time it was Kyoshi's turn to speak as Roku stepped back, "You must leave Aang. You must find the Guru who once helped you into the Avatar state, and perhaps he will know what to do. And if this works, it's possible you can change the course of the future."_

"_Do we know where he is at, by any chance?"_

"_He is where you left him, and I am sure that he is expecting you once again."_

_Aang nodded at them, thinking that there was perhaps indeed hope at the end of the tunnel after all._

"_But we only ask of one other thing for you to do."_

"_What is it you ask of me?"_

"_You must do this _alone_."_

_Aang was speechless at this ridiculous request, "You know I can't win without them…I can't without Katara there to help through this! I've learned that I can't do it without them, because I always end up losing!" He knew they would always be there for him, and they all proved that time and time again. Aang had finally learned that you can never do things on your own, when you have friends like his._

_Roku stepped next to Kyoshi, "Aang it is extremely possible, that during this training, you could hurt someone. Ozai is already inside of you and we can all see that he is starting to take hold of you."_

"_I won't do it!" yelled Aang in anger, "I will _not_ abandon them again! You're asking me to give up the ones who have always been there for me, and who have always been by my side in the face of death! I won't leave Katara again Roku!" Aang felt tears coming down his face as he whispered, "I just got her back…"_

_Roku walked over to the young air bender and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know that what we are asking of you will be hard, but we cannot allow this to happen."_

_Aang looked up at the tall man, "Its not hard, but impossible Roku…and I refuse to do this!" he said as he swatted his hand away from him and stepping back a few more steps._

"_Aang, if you don't do this, your friends could be seriously hurt, or even killed. You got angry at Iroh, because he couldn't answer your questions. What makes you think you won't react the same way to the ones closest to you?" He knew Roku had a point, but he didn't want to be alone in this fight. _

"_I'm sorry…but I won't." The images of the spirit world turned white all around him, and the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to the rising sun._

Pain shot back at his body, as if it was paying him back for not feeling anything in the spirit world. He fell back on his back, as his mind wondered through what he just learned. He knew what Roku said was true, but he learned a long time ago that he could not do things on his own. It was something he was never good at, and his friends would somehow always find him somehow, someway. But was this different? Did he reallyhave to leave everything in order to succeed this time?

Aang shook his head at the stupid request, and crawled up to Appa's head and feeling his entire body grovel at his movements. "Come on boy, let's go back." he said, as he pulled the reigns of the animal guide back towards the house on the beach. He knew it was late, and he knew he had to be quiet when he went in. When Appa landed, he air bended himself off and then landing on the ground like a rock. The monk forgot that the smallest amount of bending could hurt him, but he was too stubborn not to try anyways. He got up and petted his bison's head, thanking him for everything he did. Aang sighed slowly, so as not to hurt the broken bones in his body, "What am I going to do boy? Why does my life _have_ to be so complicated?" The beast roared at him in response.

"I know I'm the Avatar boy, but I don't know if I can do it on my own…I mean yeah I'll have you, but they are my family too. I've always needed them Appa. I just wish there was another option." Again the bison growled at him.

Aang nodded, as he understood what he was telling him, "I know the Avatar has to make sacrifices…but I don't want to lose her boy... I love her." In that instant he realized that he had never once told Katara how he felt towards her, and he never told that he wanted to marry the beautiful water bender. He already had the perfect color for the cloth, and now all he needed was the right type of element. Something that was different compared to everything else, but what?

The bison bumped Aang lightly on the shoulder, making Aang look at him. And without talking, they looked into each others eyes, and started communicating to each other. The monk finally nodded at him.

"I know what to do…I just don't know if I can go through with it."

Aang walked back to the house, feeling the cold breeze on his back, and knowing that a storm was coming, perhaps a big one. When he entered into the house, he could see that everyone had tried to stay up and wait for him, but Iroh put them to sleep with his Sungi horn that was by his side. Iroh's head was leaning on the back of the chair, and snoring loudly. As quietly as he could, he walked up the stairs and into his room, and shut the door gently behind him.

He saw that someone had put his glider back where it was, and smiled at the person who did it. Aang went over to his bed, and laid down. The monk hated that he was hurting so badly, but all he could do is hope that they would heal once again. Aang kept looking up at the wooden ceiling, and remembering his conversation with Iroh and the Avatar's. He knew they were right about him, and the fact that they believed that Ozai was already in him, made Aang scared of himself.

He went back to his bed, and felt a lump underneath the covers. He removed them to see the face of a young water bender next to him. He examined her, to make sure that Suki wasn't lying about him hurting her, but she seemed to be okay. Aang sighed in relief and gently stroked the back of his fingers against her cheek, causing her to get goose bumps.

The air bender smiled at the reaction of his touch, and was happy to know that she was there with him. Finally, he laid his back on the now fresh sheet, and scooted close to Katara. When he did this, she too scooted closer to him, and placed her head on his chest and went back to sleep. Even though she was on his crushed ribs, he didn't care about them at this point. He knew he was going to feel it tomorrow, but figured it was worth it to have her in his own bed. Sokka would freak out if he saw this, and would probably kill him for it. This made him laugh a little, knowing that she had waited till everyone was asleep, to be with him. He placed his right hand on her bare curves that the swimsuit didn't cover, and made small circles around the velvety skin with his thumb. He could feel the gentle beat of her heart against his side, and the sound of it started to put him to sleep. Aang moved his lips towards her soft chocolate hair, and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you Katara." he whispered against her, and fell asleep, exhausted from this day.

**Okay, you guys know what to do. I know it wasn't great, but REVIEW me and tell me what you think anyways! Love and Peace to you all out there.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright! Another chapter completed in the nick of time! You guys have been awesome in your reviews, so I hope that you will like this chapter. I know the whole Ozai thing is random, but I needed a twist in my story. What can I say? lol. Anywho, thanks again for all of your reviews, and also to all of you new comers out there! It makes me happy knowing that other people are starting to get interested, or _intrigued_ by it ;) Sorry for my grammar in this chpater, but I am trying to play catch up, because of those two weeks i miss with you all out there**

**I don't own Avatar, but I LOVE the show. Back to the story...**

Katara had noticed that Aang was starting to isolate himself from everyone, and he kept making a lot of spirit trips. Something was off, and it was only getting worse since that last week of his so called _incident_. The air bender wasn't giving them any kinds of details to what had happened, and Toph couldn't help either when it came to that stuff. He was either a really good liar, or he maybe he truly didn't know what was going on.

"Katara!" Toph said, which made the water bender snap out of her trance.

"Huh, what?" she asked.

"It's your turn to move." said the blind girl, as she pointed towards the pai sho game they were playing.

Katara didn't know how Toph was able to play this game, but she seemed to win at it anyways, even if she couldn't see the symbols. Katara nodded, and moved a white lotus piece. She remembered that this was one of Aang's favorite games to play, and how Monk Gyatso had taught him everything about it. Now, it seemed like it only brought back sad memories for him. They both never really got to talk about what happened with them a week ago, while falling through the sky and making out. See assumed that that was their first step into a relationship, but it seemed to only confuse them both even more.

"Katara," said Toph, "can I ask a personal question…a girl question?"

The water tribe girl raised an eyebrow at her, "Sure, anything."

"Well you see…I have this friend. And, umm, you see she's not like _normal_ girls." said Toph, as she moved another piece on the pai sho table, "And she keeps asking me guy questions."

Katara smiled at the nervous earth bender, who didn't want to tell Katara that it was her she was talking about. Toph was never really good at being friends with other girls, and a lot of times, she and Toph didn't get along with each other. Their relationship with each other was a bit different, but anyone could see the care that they both had for one another. The bond of sisterhood, almost. Toph had always called her a mom, and at first, she took it as an insult, but later found out secretly that she was the kind of mom she wished she had in her life. The water bender didn't want to be like a mother to them, but she couldn't help it when it came to her friends and family.

"Well," said the blue eyes girl, as she straightened up her back "what kind of questions does she have that you can't answer?"

Toph didn't know how to ask the questions, without making it seem obvious that it was her. Ever since Tao had come back, she had taken a little bit of interest in him. She could see that, just like her, he was different compared to everyone else. And even though he wasn't an earth bender, or a bender period, he seemed to always surprise her. He was good with his hands, and had a big imagination for inventions…just like his dad.

"She asked, how do you know if a guy likes you or not?"

To be quite honest, Katara wasn't even for sure. At times it seemed like Aang would do anything for her, and other times, like now, he would change into someone else.

"Well, some boys are easy to read. Like for example, if they want to be with you all of the time, then that's a good sign. Or if he doesn't mind getting close to you when you're far away, and flirting is also good too."

"She also asked me, how to flirt" Toph said quickly, wanting to know the secret to it, "…and I told her I didn't know how to." The earth bender could feel her cheeks getting hot, and didn't want to look up, so she instead watched the one ant crawling through the wood.

Katara could tell that this was embarrassing to her, but it really seemed to be bugging her. "Well, what's _your_ idea of flirting Toph?"

"Well, I show affection by punching a guy really hard, and when they challenge me to something, I _always_ have to win."

Katara sighed quietly, "I guess if you have been a tough girl your whole life, then it might be hard to change. But if you want to know how to flirt, I can't tell you that." The water bender knew that when she was around Aang she would flirt with him constantly, but never really, truly thought of how to flirt. It always just seemed to _happen_ without thought or care.

"Oh." said the sad earth bender, who was hoping for Katara to give her some advice on the manner. She knew how to be the obedient and polite girl that her parents made her be, but she just wanted to be herself…even if it meant being a tough 12 year old girl. Still, she hoped for something, or anything for that matter. She knew that Aang and Katara had something special, and wanted to know the secret.

"I guess" said Toph, "I could go ask Mai then. Even though she doesn't talk too much, she seems to have gotten someone out of it."

"Toph, it's not a competition. Zuko and Mai have grown up together, and have definitely been through many challenges in their life. It's not something that happens over night, but over time." Katara said, and then wondered if Mai would even talk about it openly, but a _no_ came instantly into her mind.

"Is that how it is with you and Aang then?" she asked quickly, not caring if she was getting in their business.

Katara looked down at the pai sho table, and started to draw the lines with her eyes, and memorizing the colors too. She didn't want to answer the question, because she just didn't know. She knew Aang had a crush on her, but it wasn't until he died, that she was able to see her true feeling for him. And even after that, it still took a lot of time for her doubts and confusion to disappear. _Time is an allusion_, she thought to herself, remembering Hue's words of wisdom.

"Aang and I, umm, well it's still complicated I suppose…but our love for each other did grow after a long while. It took me six months to realize that I had feelings for him Toph, and even with Sokka and Suki it took time." Katara laughed, "I remember when those two first met, and how Sokka made a fool of himself in front of her, but she was able to see past his…well, whatever you call it."

Toph nodded a little at her comment, she knew it was true, but didn't want to wait. "So, can you help me with this flirting thing, or not?" she asked stubbornly.

Katara smiled, "I thought it was a friend of yours that was asking for my advice?"

Toph clenched her fist, "Okay, you know what, I'm leaving. I don't have to put up with this! You win the pai sho game for _once_!" She got up and started to walk, but the water bender caught her arm, and made her stop.

"Toph, I can try and help you. You don't have to be embarrassed about girl questions; it just means you are kind of changing."

"No I'm not changing…I'm just curious." the blind bandit denied.

The dark skinned girl laughed, "Well, either way, I'll take your answer." Katara led her into the kitchen, hoping to get some privacy from the others. She knew she didn't have long, since it was almost snack time for Sokka. But he had a different schedule of meals, breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon lunch, dinner, supper, and dessert.

"Okay, here's something for you. Whenever he tells a joke, you laugh at it no matter what." said Katara, as she looked at the sky from behind Toph, and could see a small storm approaching.

"That's…stupid. What if it's not even remotely funny?"

"It doesn't matter! It lets him know that you think he's funny, which can help a guy boost his confidence around a girl. Or at least that what Sokka says?"

"Agh! We are going by what Sokka says now?" said Toph, "This is so stupid!"

"Hey, I didn't make up the rules. I'm just trying to help you out."

Toph spit from the side of her mouth, and pick up a moon peach. "Fine," she said taking a huge bite, and talked before swallowing, "what-else-you-got?"

"Well, guys don't like it when girls spit around them, so you might wanna not do that around him. Just for arguments sake." Katara knew this would make Toph mad, but she really was trying to help her out. "And it's okay to punch a guy, but not in a manner of _I want to fight you_ type deal."

Toph nodded, and blew her bangs out of her face, "Whatever…go on."

"Okay…umm, when you are looking at a guy, you can always bat your eyes at him. It's a weird flirty thing to do, but it always seems to work."

"You know what Katara? That is a _fantastic_ idea! And while I'm at it, maybe by some miracle, I'll actually be able to see for the _first_ time! said the earth bender, who waved her left hand in front of her face, without blinking.

Now it was Katara's turn to be embarrassed, and feel stupid. Even though Toph was blind, it didn't always seem like it, because she could actually see better than anyone else. She never needed a guide…and that's when it hit Katara.

"You're blind Toph!" yelled Katara.

"Wow! It only took you _how_ many months to figure that out Sugar Queen?" the blind girl said sarcastically.

"No! I mean you can use that to your advantage!"

"But I can still see, so how can I use it to my_ advantage_?"

"Just follow me on this Toph. You can _act_ like you can't see, and Tao can be your so called _guide_!" expressed the blue eyed girl, who only saw confusion on her face.

"How, how did you know it was Tao?"

Katara laughed, "I may be a water bender, but I'm not that blind Toph." This made the earth bender smile a little, but her smile was replaced with red cheeks.

"Look Toph, all I'm saying is that he can help you out. If he likes you, he will grab your hand and help you, but if he grabs your arm, then it might mean that he may just want to be friends. You can use this _blindness_ for being able to touch him, and feel him. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"Wait, let me get this straight. You want me to use my disadvantage of eyes, to flirt?"

"Well, yea!"

Toph put on a big smile, "Sweetness!"

By about this time, right on schedule, Sokka walked into the kitchen, and started searching for food. He found that there was day old bread left out, and even some jerky left over as well. He ate the piece of bread first, while continuing to find more grub to eat. He at long last found some fried food, but he didn't even consider reading the bag. He took a handful of fried puffs, and stuffed them into his mouth. At first nothing happened, and then the fire finally kicked in.

"Ah! Hot, hot!" he screamed, and dropped everything onto the ground, and ran out towards the well outside, with tears streaming down his face. But he just ended falling down the stairs, that led up to the front door.

"Your right about one thing Katara," said Toph, waiting for Katara to look back, "I think Suki is more blind than me, if she can see something in a guy who can't read a bag right!"

They both laughed at the comment, knowing it was pretty true. How he got a girl like Suki, they will never know. But whenever Sokka was around Suki, Katara noticed a change in him, like he was a completely different person…_almost_.

Toph walked over towards Katara, and punched her as hard as she could, causing the dark skinned girl to stumble a bit.

"Ow!" yelled Katara, "I figured you wouldn't do that anymore!"

"You said not to do it around Tao, but never said anything about you!" she smiled blissfully, as if mocking the water girl.

Katara was getting ready to summon up some water to teach the blind girl a lesson, but she started walking back towards the door they entered into and then stopped.

Toph's head turned slightly towards the chocolate haired girl, "Thank you." she said loud enough, for only Katara to hear, and then walked off.

Katara sighed and the young girl, and hoped that she was able to help out somehow.

OooooOooooOooooo

Aang had been going back into the spirit world nonstop, as he was trying to figure out this crazy assumption. He had been arguing with his past lives, and even Monk Gyatso for hours and days now. What they were asking him to do was one of the hardest decisions he was going to make. He knew his friends, especially Katara, would hate him for doing such a thing.

"_I still don't get it Roku! It's been almost three months, and _now_ Ozai's spirit is trying to take over me? It doesn't make sense!"_

"_Perhaps Aang, he has been waiting for the right opportunity."_

"_What do you mean by that Roku?" asked Aang._

"_Maybe, he has been waiting for the opportune moment. Learning your weaknesses, and even some of your strengths, it's a tactic known to any soldier or warrior. Feelings can sometimes even be a weakness, as well as anger. Ozai seems to always thrive when you are at your most vulnerable."_

"_But why now? It's too out of place...could this be another test?"_

"_Aang, I can't tell you any more than you want to, but if you ask for my opinion, I believe that the Lion Turtle didn't lie to you at all. He said that you had to be unbendable, but he never said for how long either. It could have been in only that moment, or it could be for the rest of your life."_

_The air bender had never thought of it like that before. Yes, he knew about what the creature told him, but why wouldn't it tell him that the _true_ test could happen later on in life…more questions, with no answers. Aang needed to find that Lion Turtle, but he knew it was next to impossible to find it. The only reason he did find it, was because it called to him, without ever knowing he was. How do you find something you're not looking for?_

"_Do you really believe that?" asked Aang, in a manner of sadness._

"_I don't want to Aang, but it may be the only possible answer we have. You may have to carry him with you for the rest of your life…" and with that said, all of the Avatars and Monks disappeared right in front of his eyes. Now there was nothing left, but a huge swamp for him to look at now, and other strange creatures._

_Aang didn't want to go back to the real world just yet and decided to wonder around for a little bit. He talked to Hei Bai, and how the forest was doing since he left. Then he went by a tall tree, which sent chills into his body instantly. He swore to himself that he would never go back to the one they called, Koh _The Face Stealer_. It always scared him that a spirit like him lived in this kind of place, but then again, not all spirits are good._

_The monk continued to walk and observe the areas, and came upon a place of nothing but snow. He walked towards it, and saw a circle of green grass in the pure white land. Once he got there he saw a waterfall that had no beginning pouring into a puddle of fresh water. Aang was afraid to look at the reflection of the water, but needed to see if Ozai was there. He slowly peeked over, and saw only himself. He sighed with relief, and sat down in front of the pool, closed his eyes, and just listened to the sound of water._

_When the Avatar opened his eyes again, the white snow around him was no longer there, but instead replaced by the night sky and stars. He was surrounded by its beauty, and wonders, that still remained a mystery. The monk looked down at the water, and saw the white full moon glistening in the water. But when he looked up into the starry sky, the moon wasn't anywhere to be seen._

"_Strange." he said out loud. _

_But then a soft hand rested on his shoulder, and she spoke in a soft tone, "Not strange, but magical."_

_Aang turned his head slightly, and looked upon the Moon Spirit Yue. The air nomad got up, and bowed to the beautiful ghost spirit, "Yue, it has been too long."_

_Yue smiled, "It has indeed young Avatar. I have come to you because you seem to be lost again, and have no idea what to do next."_

"_Yes good spirit." spoke Aang shamefully, "Is it selfish that I want a normal life? To be able to fall in love, and be with her for the rest of my life? Or being able to live around my friends and family till I die of old age?" At least that is what Aang was hoping for._

_Yue walked around the other side of the puddle, and sat down in front of the water. Aang sat back down in his spot, and waited for her to answer his questions._

"_I know exactly how you feel Aang, and it was indeed the hardest decision for me to make."_

"_What do you mean?" asked the Avatar. He didn't know the full story of what happened to her, because he was off fighting the Fire Nation with the Ocean Spirit, and the next thing he knew, the moon came back out, and it was over._

_Yue looked back into the water, "I too had fallen in love with someone, in just a matter of weeks. He was charming, funny, clumsy, and a brave warrior. Sokka was everything that I ever wanted."_

_Aang looked around at the stars for a few seconds, before he asked his question, "Sokka never told me what happened. It always seemed to only cause him more pain, so I stopped asking. Even Katara wouldn't tell me, because it wasn't her place to."_

_Yue smiled, "I was in the same position as you were young Air Bender. I had to choose between love and my own life. The decision was so hard to make, especially with Sokka trying to convince me that there was another way. But I knew that if I stayed, then all that you, Katara, and Sokka fought for would have been for nothing. The choice was obvious, but I didn't see it, until it was time."_

"_How were you able to choose, when everything you wanted was right there in front of you?" asked Aang curiously._

_Yue half smiled a little, "It wasn't easy Aang. Sokka's duty was to protect me at all cost, and I hurt him so badly when I yanked away from him. He did his did all that he could for me, but in his eyes, he failed." Yue then looked up at Aang, "We both fell in love with each other, and I wanted what you are wanting now; a home, husband, children, grandchildren, and if I was lucky, great grandchildren. I too dreamt about these things, but I was never able to live it."_

_Now Aang could see where she was getting at. She too made an ultimate sacrifice; in order to let her loved ones live. He was literally in the same position as her. _

"_I don't regret what I did Aang, but I do wonder what it could have been like if I decided to run off with Sokka instead. But as I watch him now, I see that he has found someone else who gives him more love than I could have hoped for." Then Yue, touched the water with her finger tips, and ripples were being made._

"_What do you see?" she asked, looking back up into those gray eyes._

_Aang looked down at his reflection, and saw parts of his face moving, "Ripples."_

_She gently smiled at him, "We don't know what our choices do to people, or how far the ripples go in their life…we make choices, and don't look back." Everything started to disappear again around Aang, as the sky was turning back into an orange color, and he knew he was about to wake._

_Aang got up, "What am I suppose to do? I can't live in a world without her there with me!"_

_Yue started to disappear, but before she was completely gone she spoke, "If you do love her, as I did with Sokka, your decision was made a long time ago."_

Aang breathed out, as he opened his eyes to the dark stormy skies around him. He was still in his old spot, on top of a rock, with an ocean view. He looked around, and could see that his feet prints in the sand were still visible, which meant that he was only in the spirit world for a couple of hours.

The monk felt a sudden change in the temperature of the weather, and knew that the storm was getting closer to him now. His thoughts traveled back to his conversation with Yue, and how she had to make the toughest decision of her life, but chose the right pathway. Had he already made the decision without knowing it? As soon as he asked himself that question, his mind said "no", but his heart said, _"Yes."_

The air bender wrapped his arms around his legs, and started to tear up, but whipped them away quickly. Thunder rumbled close to him in the dark clouds, which were now above him, but he just continued to sit and stare. He had indeed made his decision, and was going to do what the Spirits had been telling him for days now. Aang needed to leave. He needed to go, before somebody else got hurt, like Iroh almost did. The air bender was happy that he had decided to got back to the Fire Nation, and continued to help his nephew Zuko. Suddenly Aang felt a tingling inside of him, as his hair started to crawl up on his arm and even hair. On instinct, the monk jumped off of the rock, as far as he could, and landed on his good side.

Lightning struck down in front of the rock that he was sitting on, and instantly struck again in the same place, as if defining it's mark on the world. Aang's heart was beating like crazy, as he realized that he could have been killed if he didn't move. He looked back at the spot where it struck, and saw a deep circle that had steam coming out of it. The air bender crawled towards it, and when he looked down he saw a liquid inside of the sphere. Aang could feel the combination of elements in this one liquid. He never knew that lightning could make a liquid like this, by using earth.

The monk put his hand over it, and tried to moved it, but couldn't. He used two hands to summon it, but it was just as stubborn as earth itself. This time, instead of using just one element in his body, he used every single one of them to bring it up, and it lifted, and fell back down. Aang wondered if this was how Katara felt when she was using the water whip that she learned from the scroll. It was hard for her to get it, but when the time was right, she hit a pirate right off the ship. The young boy laughed, and went back to work on the element and eventually brought it out of the sand.

When he looked at it, it was just as clear as water. There wasn't even a _hint_ of sand in it either, which was strange. He twisted, and played with the clear element, and then when he looked through it, he saw the ocean. And that was when it hit him. He had at long last found the last piece to his betrothal necklace for Katara. Aang figured it was close enough to Katara's necklace, but he knew it wasn't exactly the same material. He smiled to himself, happy to have found the last thing he needed, but also sad, because he probably wouldn't see her wear it.

OooooOooooOoooo

Back at the house, Zuko was looking up at the stormy sky, and saw the lightning strike the sand twice. It was amazing to see, but it couldn't help take his mind off of things. Before he left the Fire Nation, he learned that it was possible for his mother to be out there somewhere, but he didn't know where to start. She couldn't have stayed in the Fire Nation, but she had a death penalty on her head, so that knocked that answer out. It discouraged him that she was out there, all alone. Suddenly he felt a warm embrace around his torso, and a head that laid down on between his shoulders.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Mai curiously for once.

"I'm just thinking about my mother again, and what my father said about her being possibly alive." said Zuko, who continued to look out at the horizon.

"It must be pretty tough on you, knowing that she may be out there."

Zuko nodded his head, "I want to look for her Mai. I need to know. But I have my duties to my people, and to you as well."

Mai turned the young Fire Lord around to look up at him. "Wherever you go Zuko, know I will always be by your side. No matter what." She could see he was in a whirl wind of emotion, but couldn't do anything about it. She placed both her hands on the side of his face, and kissed him lightly.

The Fire Lord smiled at her, "I know you would. You chose between your friendship with Azula and likings toward me."

Mai shook her head, "We were never really friends, it seemed like it was the only way to close to you when we were little, so I did what I had to do."

Zuko bent down, and kissed Mai with a little more passion behind it. Her arms wrapped around his neck, while his hands dropped to her lower waist. Their kiss was now turning into a competition as Zuko lead her back into his bedroom, and onto the bed.

"Well," he whispered in her ear as he laid on top of her, "you must like me a whole lot to be thrown into a prison cell."

Mai gave him an evil look, "And speaking of that, I think you owe me for saving your skin at the Boiling Rock."

Zuko bent down again, and kissed her neck, and traveled back up to her ear, "I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

OoooOoooOoooo

Once Aang flew back into his room, he looked around to make sure no one was there, and then he pulled out the new element that was hidden in his Fire Nation shoes. He looked at it, and was amazed at its beauty. It was almost like looking through water, but it was very different. The young monk walked over to his bed, and began channel all of his energy into this clear liquid. He had mastered making it into a solid state, and back into a liquid state in a matter of minutes.

The air bender took a small slice of it, and put both of his hands up. He breathed in and out, as he pushed it into a small thin circle. The element shook in the air, and at long last formed to the perfect size. Now he needed something special inside of it, so that when people saw it, they would ask what was. He knew that he could carve both of their nations on it, but that seemed only silly to him. Aang wanted something unique, something that only she would understand.

He thought back to all of their adventures together, from the beginning of the ice, to the Cave of Two Lovers, and even when they danced at the Fire Nation. But nothing seemed to click. He thought about using the crystals from the Two Lovers Cave, but then it would be really bright in the dark, and he didn't want that to bug her.

"_Think!"_ he told himself, as he looked back outside, and saw that the small storm had finally passed. And out of all of the dark clouds, there was one small white cloud. Aang cocked his head up at it, and then smiled at his brilliant idea. He jumped off of the bed with the small circle in his hand, ran for his glider and jumped out the window. Instantly, Aang felt pain shoot up in his ribs, forgetting that he was wounded.

"Ah!" he yelled, but pushed himself up anyways to that one cloud above him. He knew he was going to be yelled at by Katara, but if she knew what it was for, she wouldn't act the same way. It only took him a few minutes to get up there, and once he was near it, he opened up a small whole in the element, and allowed the cloud to enter into it. Once he knew he had enough, he sealed it shut, not wanting anything to escape. Aang dropped back down to the small beach house and landed in his room.

He wasn't very graceful when his feet touched the ground, and then fell to the floor. Luckily, landing on his good ribs, but still felt pain shocking through him. He got up by holding the staff in one hand, and the other holding his ribs. He walked over and placed the glider on the bed, and then walked towards a small desk area, where it was piled up with scrolls of Avatar's. He had been conducting a study since he found out about his _predictions_, and wanted to see how accurate they truly were.

Once he placed the last part of the betrothal necklace down, he didn't find a little cloud in it, but just air, and drops of water. Aang sighed and closed his eyes at this stupid idea of capturing a cloud. But he didn't have much longer kicked himself in the butt, as he felt light footsteps coming towards his room, and then the door slid open. Aang didn't know what to do, so he jumped at his bed, and acted like he was looking out the window.

"Aang?" asked Katara as she peaked in, but then came in and slid the door shut. She walked towards him, "Is everything okay? We all heard a loud crash up here." The air nomad turned his head slightly, and noticed that she had changed clothes. She was back into her water bending warrior's outfit, which he still found so attractive on her. She could look beautiful and tough at the same time.

"Oh, right. Umm, I fell out of bed again, and tried to pick myself back up." he faked laugh.

The water bender looked around, and saw that his glider was now on the bed, instead of in the corner of the room. "Oh, I see. So you didn't have the strength to get up, but you were able to get your glider, and went flying for a little bit?"

"Flying?" he said with confusion in his voice, "I would never fly with broken ribs, especially after you threatened me."

Aang remembered her saying that if he kept flying that she was going to break his other ribs, so he couldn't injure himself any more than necessary. Katara walked over to the desk, and placed her left hands on the scrolls were and leaned. She was within a fingers length from and touching the circled element.

"So, if you know you shouldn't do it, then why is your hair all over the place then?"

Aang turned around, and his heart started beating like crazy, as he looked at how close she was to her incomplete betrothal necklace. He needed to distract her somehow, without it seeming obvious.

"Umm…my hair!" he pointed out, slowly walking towards the desk, "Yes, my hair-there is a good explanation for all of this, I can assure you!"

Katara saw that he was acting weird all of the sudden, as if she was about to discover a secret. "I would love to hear it then, air boy?" she said crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Aang took a few more steps towards her, and looked up at her, and back down at the sphere on the scrolls. But when he looked at it, he saw a tiny white cloud forming in it. Every step he took, it got bigger, and bigger, until it was completely covered in white. The monk smiled to himself, realizing that it would _only _form when they were close. He had heard of a few people, who's bending was so strong, that it would radiate off of them without prior knowledge. Katara looked at the air nomad, and followed his eyes towards the scrolls, but he grabbed her shoulders, and twisted her back at him. And the words _Avatar_ and _Predictions_ crossed her eyes.

Then, Aang put on his best sad face for her, and spoke, "You're right Katara. I did go fly, but I couldn't help it. I love to fly! You of all people know what it's like!" He looked back down at her betrothal necklace, and could still see the cloud inside of it, as strong as ever.

Katara sighed, and kissed him on the cheek, which caused him to blush. "I know it is Aang, but for once, I need you to _trust me_ on this. The last thing we need is you getting hurt again. And I don't know if I can handle losing you anymore."

When Aang heard the last sentence, he walked forward, and grabbed his new element. He hid it in his pants pocket with out her seeing it, and turned back around to her sapphire eyes. They showed mystery, compassion, and anguish as well. He looked down at her hands, took them, and then darted to her lips, and back to those eyes.

He became serious, and squeezed her hands tightly, "You will never truly lose me Katara. Even in death, I will always find a way back to you. _Always_." The air nomad was surprised at his mention of death, but he needed to let her know that no force could stop him from being with her. And that they would see each other, even if it was in the next life.

The chocolate haired girl smiled up at the Avatar, and took a half step towards him and embraced him tightly. Aang grunted over his stupid ribs, and then felt her starting to pull herself away from him, but he pulled her back tightly. He rocked her sideways, smelling her ocean hair once again, and remembering how intoxicating it was to him.

He kissed her on the forehead, and asked in her ear with a cheer, "So, am I forgiven for flying?"

Katara laughed into his chest, "Only because you're so good at _this_."

And then Aang laughed quietly too, as the water bender released him from her grasp. She looked back up at him, and saw that he was eyeing her neck for some reason. And then he reached out with his hand, and gently rubbed her mother's necklace. She saw a smile on his face appear, as his finger tips held the main part of the necklace.

The monk realized that Katara would probably never want to take it off, because it was all she had left of her own mother. And he didn't want to try and take that away from her, he would never ask her to take it off. Suddenly, he felt leathery palms, and soft fingers touching his hand. The young boy looked up, and he saw concern in her eyes. But he managed to smile, and gently let go of the necklace, so that it wouldn't rock back and forth.

Aang sighed, "I tend to forget how beautiful you look with your mother's necklace. It defines you in more ways, than anything else. I wish I could have met her." The air nomad really did wish he could have met her, because he wanted to know if she was the same as Katara.

This surprised the water girl a little bit at his comment of her mother. He had never really mentioned anything about her, or even asked question about her. But then again, she wasn't too open to the discussion either. Zuko was really the only other person who knew what had happened, but she was actually glad Aang never pushed for an answer from her.

"Why would you say something like that?"

Aang let go of her hand, walked past her and sat on the bed, and starred at his hands. "Well, I would just want to know if she would approve of me or not. And to also know if she was adventurous as you are now."

Katara smiled at him, and walked back to sit next to him. She took his hand, which caused him to look up at her, "If I am anything like my mother, as my father says I am, then she would love you, because you brought me back to life too."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, "You're the one who saved me from that patch of ice."

"Aang," she began, "before I met you, my life was incomplete. I was always sad, and I hid behind my chores when I helped my Gran Gran. I had to grow up so quickly, because when my father left us, I had to become the adult while Sokka was off playing warrior."

The air bender laughed at her, and remembered Sokka being a little over protective of her when she was around him, or when they were having a lot of fun together. The monk never realized that he turned away from Katara, until her other hand cupped his cheek and made him look at her again. And then he saw the love in her eyes, being poured into his.

"But then you showed up, and you changed my world forever. You gave me joy again, and you brought the child out of me, that I thought I had lost forever. And I believe my mother would approve of you even if you weren't the Avatar, because…" Katara stopped herself from saying the last three words. She desperately wanted to say them, but every time she got close to someone, they would always seem to disappear; first her mother, her father, and Aang. She started to feel that way, since Aang wasn't his normal cheerful, kid self anymore .The water bender felt Aang take her hand from his cheek, and kissed her fingertips. She felt the warmness of his mouth, which only sent chills down her body.

He looked at her naked fingers, and then down at the blue glove that covered up the rest of her hand. "You changed me too Katara. You gave me a purpose to live, and to keep fighting…no matter the cost." And with that said, Aang kissed Katara, gently, as if doing it for the first time.

Katara was caught off guard, but relaxed at his feathery kiss. That was one of the things she liked about him; how he didn't see her as a piece of meat, but a girl, a girl who fell in love with the young Avatar. It had been so long since they had kissed again, and those same butterflies that were with them when they were free falling, were back again. She pressed her face closer to his, as her hands ran through his shaggy dark hair.

Aang put his hands on her hips, and pulled her body closer to his. Even though Aang was burning up, Katara didn't seem to mind the heat around them. The air nomad pushed her down onto the bed, as her hands were now hugging his back. His chest was barely on hers, while his body was a little sideways. He continued to hold himself up, which caused some pain in his ribs, but he didn't want to stop. He decided to try something new this time, which he had seen the older kids do, and got a little curious. He gently grazed his tongue on her lips, as if asking for permission to enter.

The water tribe girl felt the warmth of his tongue on her lips, and was surprised at her own reaction, as she opened her mouth for him, inviting him in. She placed hers on the inside of his mouth, and enjoyed the taste of him. Katara pulled him down onto her, forgetting that he was in pain. She opened her eyes widely, but he didn't seem to show any agony, as his eyes remained closed, and kept pressing harder against her. The water bender rolled to the back of her head and they continued to kiss in a fun, new way. Their breathing had quickened, and it felt like they were both drowning, but were too stubborn to be the first to stop and take a breath. She loved how wonderful his tongue felt on hers, and how she never wanted this moment to end. But like all, they must.

Suddenly they heard the sliding door fall off, and then all of their neighbors fell onto the floor, and hearing a lot of _oof's_ in the process. Sokka of course was at the bottom of the pile, with Suki, Toph, and even Zuko on top. Mai just walked over the pile of people and yawned as she leaned against the wall, while Tao rolled in right behind her. Luckily, for Katara and Aang they both had split from each other, as soon as they heard the noise.

"Get off of me!" mumbled Sokka loudly at everyone, "I'm gonna kill Aang!"

Aang jumped off of the bed, and got ready in a stance. Once everyone got up, Sokka ran at Aang, swinging fists at him. Luckily, for him, Sokka was a worse fist fighter, than he was at his jokes. It was like he was fighting that guy at the Fire Nation all over again, who had no self control. But then he felt a punch that grazed off of his ribs, and then he dropped to his knees, clenching in discomfort.

And then, something happened to Aang. He felt anger and rage inside of himself, and the flames of Ozai spurring inside of him. He clenched his fist into a ball, and did an upper cut into his stomach, and then Aang twisted his right foot up in the air, and kicked him right in the face. Sokka was sent crashing into a desk that was once full of scrolls, and were now flying in the air. And without any control over himself, he felt his body boiling, and then he attacked Sokka again.

Katara quickly summoned water from her pouch and hit Aang with it, but he stopped it easily and sent it back at her. She went flying to the wall, hit her forehead on it, and landed on the bed. Zuko sent a fireball, while Toph summoned the sand underneath the house and fired small sand balls at him. Mai even threw some daggers at him, but only aimed at his loose clothing. As easily as the last time, Aang used the water on the floor, and blocked their shots. He then formed a huge circle around himself, and sent it with a brutal force. Everyone hit the walls, and fell to their knees, and then faces.

The monk was watching it all through his own eyes, and couldn't stop it. And then he was completely shut off from himself when he saw his friends lying on the ground. He was in the dark now, and then a wicked laugh around him. And then it spoke, _"It's only a matter of time!" _Then Aang opened his eyes, and was kneed in the face by Sokka. Who stood over him with blood coming from his mouth, and spat it to the side.

"What the hell was that Aang?" yelled Sokka, as he picked the air nomad by the shirt, "Why did you attack me like I was your enemy?" Sokka shoot Aang again, and then Zuko rushed over to him. He got hold of Sokka, and held him as best as he could. But the angry boy ended up kicking Aang one last time in his ribs, causing him to scream in pain.

The Avatar laid on the ground, and rolled onto his back carefully. He could taste his blood dripping down from his nose, and felt very nauseated all of the sudden. Aang then pushed himself on all four, and when he looked around, but his vision became a little blurry.

"Katara!" Suki yelled, and then the room became silent. Aang got up slowly, as he held his ribs, and looked down at Katara who seemed lifeless at this point. He saw blood dripping down her hair, down to her left cheek. The air bender then started having flashes again of what happened in his dream, and it was like lightning was striking him again, but it kept repeating. He dropped to his knees, and began to wail in torment.

Without even thinking about it, Mai went to his side, and tried to help him up, but the air nomad pushed her aside. Now it was Zuko's turn to be the protective one, as he pushed Aang back onto the floor, with fire ready in his hands.

"Zuko!" yelled Mai, "he didn't hurt me! Leave him alone!"

Zuko got right in Mai's face, and blared, "I don't want you to be anywhere _near_ him! Do I make myself clear!"

Mai clenched her jaw at him, because she hated being told what to do. Her parents always made her do that, but she knew it was out of protection from Zuko. She nodded at him, and then stepped back from Aang, who continued to grasp his head and breath uncontrollably.

Zuko looked at Tao, and saw the fear in his eyes. "Tao!" said Zuko, who tried to get his attention on him, "I need you to get bandages in Katara's room. They should be in her bag, but if its not there, check in Sokka's room." Tao nodded, and rolled away from the scary scene.

Sokka looked up at Toph, who had her hand on Katara's skin. "Her heart beat is slow, but she is going to be fine. She is just unconscious." said Toph with a little cheering in it. Sokka nodded, and smiled back at her.

"You better go help Tao out." spoke Sokka, "He may not want to come back in here after what happened." Sokka looked at Aang, who was still mumbling words to himself. Toph didn't say anything, but left the room without a sarcastic mark.

Finally the world around Aang stopped spinning, and he was able to look up and get a glimpse of Katara one last time. Ever so slowly he stood up, with his hand resting on his ribs again, and looked up at everyone. They all stopped moving, and were preparing for something to happen next. But Aang stepped a step back, with left hand up in surrender, and continued to walk backwards, until he reached the corner. He slid his back down it, and formed a ball with his body, with his head buried in his knees.

Sokka picked up his sister, and decided it would be safer if he placed her in his room, until they figured out what happened to Aang. Once everyone left the room, Aang continued to cry in shame for a few minutes, but then wiped his tears away. He got up, with the help of the wall, and grabbed a bag. He pulled out all of his clothes, a cloak, and some gloves to cover his hands, stuffed the scrolls in it as well, and then closed it up. The Avatar knew that he only had a few minutes before someone would come to check on him, but he wasn't going to be there. He put the bag on his shoulders, and grabbed his staff that was on the other side of the room.

He went through the broken desk one last time, lifting up the wood, and making sure that he wouldn't forget anything that would lead to his whereabouts. Then out of the corner of his eyes, he froze in place, and he saw it. The incomplete blue cloth for Katara's betrothal necklace he was making for her. He wanted to just leave it there, and let it rot, but for some reason he grabbed it, and stuffed it in his pocket. He then summoned the clear liquid that had rolled underneath his bed, and guided it into his pack. Aang wanted to leave a letter for Katara, but he knew she would never want him after seeing him become a monster. She feared Ozai, and now, now he was becoming like him.

Aang ran and jumped onto the ledge standing up, feeling the pain rushing through his body. But the physical pain was nothing compared to his heart being breaking for Katara. He looked back one last time at the room, that was no longer a welcoming place, and he jumped off. Aang landed on his feet and then fell to his knees. He covered his mouth with his free hand, so as not to bellow in pain. The monk continued running with his right arm holding his ribs, and heading towards Appa. The Bison was lying on his back with his feet in the air, next to the barn. Momo was on top of him as always, and could see drool dripping down the beast's leathery skin.

"Appa! Appa, wake up! We have to go now!" yelled Aang, as he dropped his stuff and bag, and went towards the saddle. The bison stirred a little, and woke up to the noises around him. It could sense that something was wrong with his friend, and rolled off of his back and stood up, yawning loudly to the world.

"Shh! Quiet Appa, I don't need them to know what I am about to do!" Aang whispered loudly to the great Bison. He then tried to air bend the saddle, but the pain was too much for him to handle. And then he heard shouts coming from the house that was only a few yards away from him. The monk breathed to calm himself, with sweat forming on his face, and with all of his strength, he lifted the saddle onto Appa, and felt a popping sound in his ribs. This time Aang couldn't hold in the howl of pain that was now scorching through him. He heard footsteps coming from the distance, and began to crawl with one arm towards his bag. The air bender grabbed it and the glider, and held onto them tighly.

"Yip, yip Appa!" said Aang as a bead of sweat dripped into his eyes, causing it to sting a little. The Bison did as obeyed, and grabbed the air nomad's shirt with his teeth and flew into the sky. Appa could feel Aang's pain, and decided to land once he was far enough away from the beach house. After a few minutes of flying, the best landed near another beach where it seemed to be isolated. He gently dropped Aang, who was now lying on his back in pain, breathing unruly. Momo had at long last caught up with them and started to yell at Appa in his lemur language.

As those two continued to fight, Aang got up slowly from the sand and walked towards the ocean. He found a small rock, and then used his earth bending to cut it into a shaving blade. Once that was done, he sliced his finger over it, and blood started to drip down his fingers and down to his elbow. He placed the finger in the ocean, which made it feel like it was burning it instead of cleaning the new wound. Aang made a hole in the sand to his left hand, allowing the salt water flow into it, like a water fall. Once it was high enough, Aang got down on his knees, and ducked his head into the puddle, feeling the cold water in his hair as it dripped down his back.

He then took the sharp rock with his good arm, and then used his right one that was holding his ribs, to grab onto his hair, and sliced off the long ends. Once that was done, he dipped his hair back into the water, and could see long hair and the full moon floating in it. When the ripples finally calmed, Aang shaved the rest of his head quickly. Blood started to drip down his face, because he wasn't being as careful as he normally was with a sharp blade. When he finally finished, he dropped the rock, dipped his head one more time in it, and used his left hand to wash away the rest of the loose hair on him. He felt the burning sensation of razor burns on his head, and even in his nose, but he ignored it. When Aang rubbed off the salt water from his eyes, he looked down at the puddle of water.

It was the first time he had seen his arrows in what seemed like an eternity, but wished they weren't there, because of his own disgrace. The water was now a light red color, with his hair floating in it, with the moon reflecting the day of what it looked like when Yin was killed. He then looked back at himself in the reflection, and only saw the Avatar before him, with no Ozai in it at all. His head started to throb again as he continued to look in the red water, as the memories poured back into him again. The snapping of Katara's neck, and the laughter of Ozai when he looked at the water, that Katara used against him. Aang raised his left arm, made his fist into a ball, and smashed it into the water. It splattered everywhere on him, and the sand surrounding him. He was breathing furiously through his teeth, but was able to calm himself as he listened to the waves.

The scared monk covered his hand over his eyes, so he couldn't see anything, and let the tears stream down his face once again. He used his thumb and other fingers to wipe the water away, with his fingers meeting in the middle of his nasal bone. He sniffled, and then breathed out, allowing his physical pain to help him with his emotional. Aang then got up, and looked back at the hole. It only had a little bit of water and blood mixed in it, but then the waves picked up the evidence, and brought it back into the big blue. It took the water a few seconds to bring back more sand, and cover up the hole that he dug. Once there was nothing left for him to look at, the air bender walked back to his animals.

Appa and Momo were no longer bickering when they heard Aang coming towards them, in a slow limping pace. He went toward Appa's saddle, and made sure it was secure one last time. The air bender threw the bag and staff on top of the saddle, and tried to climb his Bison's head, but let got immediately. When Appa saw this, he dug a hole underneath him. And when it was deep enough, he put his head in it, and waited for Aang to climb on.

Aang smiled at his smart animal guide, walked on top, and sat down his head. The great beast lifted his head up, and jumped back into the sky, with Momo flying by him. The air bender looked up at the moon, and then from a distance he saw the house, and felt lonely for the first time. _"I'm sorry Katara."_ he said out loud, pulling out the two things to her necklace, and placing them in one hand. The air blew the cloth, while the circle, only contained drops of water and air in it again. He closed his fist tightly with the material in his palm, and curled himself back into a ball. They flew into the clear night sky, never to see his friends, or Katara ever again.

**Okay, first off, what Aang discovers is glass (which you probably already knew), and after watching the TV show again, I don't think they have discovered it just yet. But then again I could be wrong, and if I am, then I apologize to you all. I can't get everything accurate, but I can keep trying though! So, I hoped you all liked this chapter, and if you didn't you can review and tell me what you think or give me other ideas for the next chapter. I am already in the process of writing it, and I hope to give it to you by at least Saturday night. **

**Please review guys! Peace and Love to you Avatar Fans!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright, here's another chapter updated for you. I know it's a late update, but at least I got it up by my deadline...I think? Anyways, this one is long, but I hope you like it. Sorry again for my grammar ahead of time.**

**I don't own Avatar, now back to the story.**

Aang, Appa, and Momo had been flying nonstop for about three days now, with no food, or even a place to rest. Aang needed to get away as fast as he could, and flying over water was the best idea at he had when he ran off. Aang knew he needed to go back to the Eastern Air Temple, and find Guru Pathik. But first, he decided to go back to the Earth Kingdom land, take care of a small matter, and then be off again.

The air bender could smell his old bandages were getting worse, and it was possible that he was getting an infection. Usually, he had someone help clean the cuts, and put on fresh bandages, but he didn't attempt to try and take them off. It took them a couple of more hours before they finally reached land, near the beach. Appa was exhausted from his long journey as he landed, and fell sideways, throwing the Avatar, Momo, and his stuff off of his saddle, and into the sand pit.

Aang's entire body was soar once again as he laid on his back, feeling the heat of the sun on him. He wanted nothing more, than to be with Katara right now. To feel her hair, blowing against his face, and tickling his skin. Or to look into those blue eyes, and see the hurt and pain around him disappear, with nothing but she and him in the world. The air bender shook his head at this, and got up slowly from the loose sand. He limped over to his things, opened up his pack, and brought out the black cloak and gloves that went a fourth of the way up his fingers. Aang took off his fire nation shirt, which smelt of old blood, and put on the black cloak. He put the gloves and his pack on, then grabbed his staff, and walked towards Appa.

"Thanks boy!" he said patting his head, "I don't know what I could have done without you." The Bison roared, and licked him, leaving a big blob of slobber all over him. Aang smiled, and then put his hands together, and bent the slobber off of his body. The monk started walking towards the town with Momo on his right shoulder, to keep him company.

As much as Aang hated walking, he knew it would be the only way for no one to see him, and Appa. The last thing he needed, was to be spotted, and then the news travel back to his gang…if he was still miraculously apart of it. His walking was slowing down a lot more, and his vision was getting worse too. He continued for about ten miles, and came up to a small house, with a two sheep pigs, a chicken rooster, and a small barn full of hay. Aang's body was getting weaker, and weaker as he kept walking to the house, using his staff to hold up his weight.

Momo flew off of his back, and landed near a wooden rectangle and began drinking the water out of it. Aang followed Momo, and dropped down to the water and began drinking, but then threw it up, due to the saliva that was in it. He hadn't realized until now, that this was for the animals. Aang hung onto the piece of wood, but gave up, and fell down on the ground. Everything around him was spinning, and then he blacked out. But before he passed out, he felt rough hands placed over his forehead and then his cheek. She grabbed his cloak, and dragged him into the shady part of the house.

OooooOooooOoooo

Katara looked up into the sun setting sky, hoping to see a giant bison in the sky coming towards them. But it had been three days since she last saw Aang, since he ran off without telling her goodbye. The water bender felt so empty without him close by, almost as if she lost her other half. She still wanted to go after him, but didn't know where to even begin. Katara knew that Aang was going to lie low for a while, but soon or later he was bound to slip up. And when he did, they would be ready. The gang had already discussed what their plans were, and were all leaving today to go their separate ways.

Zuko and Mai would return back to the Fire Nation Palace, where he would continue to lead his people, and perhaps hear the rumors of the Avatar somewhere. Suki, Sokka, Toph, and even Tao said that they would join with Katara, as she began to search for Aang. They packed everything up, and started to head out to the metal ship that was docked waiting for them.

Katara hugged Mai goodbye, "Take care of yourself." the blue eyed girl said, "And take care of Zuko, you know how fragile he can be sometimes."

Mai laughed a little, and nodded, tightening her embrace on her new friend. Suki and Tao were already on board waiting for the rest of them. Sokka and Zuko shook arms, wishing each other good luck as well.

Zuko looked over at Katara, and then back at Sokka, "Do you think she will ever stop looking for him?"

Sokka and Zuko looked over at Katara, who had just let go of Mai. She still remained in her warrior's outfit, with a small bandage covering up her head injury. Sokka then shook his head, "I don't know. Katara has always been the type of person who never gives up, but my instincts tell me that we won't find Aang."

Zuko looked back, "Why would you say that?"

"Aang cleaned out his room in just under a few minutes. All of the scrolls, his clothing, and even a small bag of money were gone too. A guy doesn't do that if he doesn't want to be found." declared Sokka.

Zuko shook his head, "Can you blame him? I think his fear has taken over, after what he did to Katara. I saw it in him, but I never thought he would run again."

Now it was Toph's turn to interrupt, "Twinkle Toes will come back…he just needs time to figure out what is going on with him. There's no way he can stay away from Sweetness over there, for a long period of time. He'll show up."

Zuko smiled at the young earth bender, hoping her words were true enough. The Fire Lord bent down, and hugged her, "I hope your right Toph. You take care of the others, and look after Katara. She's going to need you to talk some sense into her."

Sokka looked at him curiously, as Zuko released Toph, "Talk some sense?" he questioned.

Zuko nodded, "If what your gut says is true Sokka, Katara will never give up. Even if that means separating from all of us to go and find him. And the last thing she needs is to be alone." Everyone stopped talking when they heard the water benders footsteps on the dock, making it appear obvious to Katara that they were talking about her.

"Hey," she said to Sokka and Toph, "are we ready?" Both of them nodded their heads and started heading up to the ship. Mai stood at the end of the dock, giving Zuko and Katara some space.

The dark skinned girl didn't know what to say to Zuko. She wished he could come, since he was the best at finding Aang, but he had been away from the palace long enough. He needed to help lead his people, and he couldn't do that on their adventure. It was time that they all split for a little while.

The chocolate haired girl needed to find Aang. She needed him to know that whatever happened three nights ago didn't change how she still wanted to be by his side, and help him in this struggle. Katara knew that he had been hiding something from her, and whatever it was, it was enough to make him drop everything, including what they had, and leave.

Katara hugged Zuko, with her arms underneath his, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It was so different hugging him, compared to Aang. Zuko was a lot taller and more muscular too. But it only proved to her that she didn't want anyone else to hug her, unless Aang was the one doing it.

"Thank you for everything." she said, and let go as her eyes began to water.

Zuko smiled kindly, "Find him. And I promise to keep giving you updates by messenger hawk. You will need all the help you can get. Do you know where to find June?

Katara nodded, "I just hope she hasn't changed bars in the last couple of months."

The Fire Lord grunted, "I highly doubt that, but here is this too." he said giving her a heavy bag of gold pieces. "She won't do the job, unless she gets paid. There should be enough money in there for at least four months, plus Junes pay."

The water girl smiled as she wiped away a small tear, "I can't thank you enough Zuko, and I appreciate everything you have done for us."

Zuko smiled again, "I want Aang back as well. He is still the Avatar, and people are going to start wondering where he is at. So I hope you can talk some sense into him and bring my friend back." Katara nodded again. She picked up her bag, and started walking towards the small Fire Nation ship.

"Oh and Katara?" he said, waiting for her to turn to him. When she did, he said, "If you don't find him, don't blame yourself."

Katara didn't know what he meant about blaming herself over something like this, but she half smiled and walked onto the ship. The ship started to move, and they all waved at Zuko and Mai, who stood there until the ship was seen no more.

"Okay," said Sokka, as he pulled out his map and set it on the ground. Everyone got on their knees and looked at the map. "Zuko and I were able to see Aang land here," he said pointing it out with his index finger, "We found Appa's last footprints turning east, so our best chance is to look in the Earth Nation for a little bit. But wherever he is, he is a five days ahead of us with Appa. It should only take him a couple of days to get there on Appa, but our ship is much slower than him. So wherever he may go, we might not catch him, but he is bound to show up eventually."

Katara looked up at her older brother, and then nodded. She then got up from the rest of the group and went to the nose of the ship. She place her hands of the ledge, and leaned over a bit as she watched the water hit the metal of the ship. And then she looked back up to the high sun, and to the horizon. _"I won't give up on you. Even when you disappeared for a 100 years, I knew you would return."_ she said to herself.

OooooOoooooOooooo

Aang opened his eyes half way, feeling a major headache as his eyes caught the bright light. He was lying on a soft bed, near a wall that had had green paint peeling off. Aang swung his legs over, so that he could finally sit up. For a second he blacked out, feeling his body tingling again, but eventually he could see again. When he looked around, he saw his cloak, gloves, were folded up on top of a chair, while his staff leaned against it as well. On top of the clothes was the blue ribbon, and a clear circle that held water and air in it. There on his clothes was the unfinished necklace for Katara.

The monk was confused at to how he got here, or who brought him into this small house. The air bender then looked down at his body and saw that all of his wounds had been sewed up, with some kind of leaf liquid on top of the stitches. He continued to sit their in his swim trunk, as he tried to process what just happened to him.

The monk didn't know what to think of this, but he was happy to know that someone was kind enough to help him out. He still felt so exhausted, and knew that he may have slept for only a couple of hours. Aang ran his fingers over his scalp, forgetting that he had cut if off days ago, feeling the small scabs on top. He had come to like his shaggy hair, but more than anything, he knew Katara loved it. But he needed a change, and he could always grow it back whenever he wanted to. The air bender got up, and walked towards his things, but before he started to reach for his clothes, a strange woman voice spoke behind him.

"You might want to wash up before you put your clothes back on, young Avatar."

Aang's eyes got big as he turned his head slowly, to see a woman in raggedy earth nation clothes. Her hair was long, and a dark brown color. Her eyes were gold, and showed so much love and kindness in them. Her face features were still soft, but he could tell that she too had been struggling through life to survive. She was very skinny, and pale, but still showed so much joy, as she walked towards him.

"I knew you would wake soon, so there is a bath waiting for you in the next room. The rest of your clothes are still drying outside, but you should definitely clean yourself up. You look as if you have been through a lot." said the woman, as she handed him a towel. The air bender started to blush, as he remembered that he was only in his swim trunks, and started to feel embarrassed. But instead of the woman laughing at him, she simply smiled, and walked out to give him his privacy.

Aang just stood there for a few seconds as his mind started to process his thoughts, as to what just happened. He felt like he somehow knew this woman, but had never seen her face before. The monk couldn't put his finger on it, so he walked to the back of the room, where he found a bucket that had green leaves and white pedals in them. Aang grabbed the small clothe that was on top of the water, dipped it in, and then started to rub it on his body.

The water was warm as he cleaned himself, feeling the stings coming back all over himself again. He was indeed grateful to the women for sewing up his scars. He never had anyone do this before to him, because he kind of always depended on Katara to help heal his wounds to the point where he could stop bleeding.

Aang continued to wash himself for a while longer, loving the sensation of a bath. He just realized that his ribs weren't hurting as much either, but there was still a purple spot on to prove that they were broke. When he was done, he grabbed the towel, and dabbed himself dry, hoping not to mess up the strings that pulled his skin tighter. As he walked out, he saw that all of his clothes had been cleaned. But he didn't bring his bag with him, so how did it all get here?

Aang ignored the question for now, and put on his fire nation pants on, as well as his shoes. He then put on the long sleeve black shirt, and then the gray shirt that went just below his elbows. He left the folded up clothes on the chair, and stood up. All of the sudden, his mouth started to water up, as he could smell food from around the corner. He walked around quietly, and found that there was a small table, big enough for two people only. Aang sat on the floor, and looked at the big bowl of steaming noodles that had only mushrooms, leaves, and even some small diced up tomatoes.

The women looked back at Aang, who just sat there starring at the food. "Please," she said, "eat."

And without a seconds thought, he grabbed the bowl, and the chopsticks next to it, and devoured at the bowl of hot noodles. The women then brought him a fresh hot cup of tea that had a fruity flavor to it, which he came to love very much.

The monk finished his meal in just under a couple of minutes, and gulped down four cups of tea without hesitation. It had been a while since he had a good meal, and this was the most amazing one he had, even if it was just noodles. But it could never beat out Katara's cooking. The women was just sitting on her knees, just watching the young tattooed boy eating her food.

When she saw that he was done, she could tell that he was still hungry. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "I don't have anything else to feed you. I am afraid that my food has at long last run down."

When Aang heard this, he looked back up at the woman, and felt the brokenness in his heart. But she looked like she didn't regret it at all, as she kept looking at him. In fact, she seemed almost; _happy_ to have done it. Aang looked down into the bowl, and saw only one noodle left in it.

This woman had given up her last meal just to feed him, and take care of him. Not many strangers would have shown him _this_ kindness, even if he was the Avatar. She seemed to actually treat him like a son, just as Monk Gyatso did so long ago. The monk felt terrible, and wished that he could somehow pay her back, but he didn't have anything of great value to give her.

"I can't thank you enough for your kindness. It's been a while since I have had a good home cooked meal. Not since…well since I left." he said with a much regret in his voice, as she picked up his bowl, and placed it the side. He changed the subject quickly, "So, how did my other clothes get here?"

"Oh!" the woman said, "Your bison followed you. He came after you once I had decided to drag you in. Such a sweet ball of fur, but he can be a bit ferocious when he roars. It's almost as if he knew you were in danger?"

Aang smiled, "Yes mam, he seems to always be there when I'm hurting. It is a bond we share." But then he realized that if Appa was here, then it was possible that there would be absolutely no hay left once he was done. "I saw that you had some hay lying around as well, I hope he hasn't eaten any of it." he said hopefully.

The woman smiled back at him, "Well I wouldn't blame him if he did. He looked worse than you were, so I let him anyways. I can always find something else for the animals to eat."

This skinny female kept surprising him at every turn. For a woman who seemed to have nothing, she had a very high spirit. "Is your husband around to help you out?" he asked when after he gulped down the last few drops of fruity tea.

The ladies face turned pale, "My husband and I, are no longer together."

This made Aang sad when he heard of people who weren't together anymore. It was not something the monks had taught him to accept, but he could tell it was not his business to push the matter at hand.

"I see. Well, did you have any children by any chance?" he asked curiously, but could see that even if she did, they weren't here.

This made her smile a bit, "Oh yes, a girl and a boy. They are my most treasured gifts of this world."

"Where are they at?" questioned the monk, as his fingers continued to play with the chopsticks under the table.

"I'm not quite sure anymore." she announced regrettably, "I haven't had contact with them in almost a decade…a lot of things happened with their father, and I had to leave to protect one of them. It was the hardest decision to make, but I would choose it again if it meant protecting either of my children."

The monk could tell that whatever decision it was, it was indeed the hardest that she had to endure. They were almost the same, just as he left all of his loved ones to protect them, so did she. He had come to learn that mothers were willing to do whatever it meant to save their children. Just like when Katara's mother, Kaya, had chosen death to protect her little water bender.

"I am so sorry. I don't know what it is like to give up your children, but I kind of had to do the same thing too. Only it was with my friends." he said. Aang found that it was so easy to talk to a stranger about his problems.

The woman became intrigued about this and asked, "What happened?"

Aang decided not to tell her the whole story, but just key points. "Well, I ended up hurting one of them badly. And it turned out to be the one girl I had fallen in love with." the air bender said, and looked up again at the women. He could see pain in her eyes, as she continued to listen.

The bald teenager continued, "And when I saw her in that state of unconsciousness, I left. I had stayed with them, even though I was told to go." Aang closed his eyes as he held back his tears, "She and the others paid the price, because I was being selfish."

The room was silent for a little while, as the sun began to set, making the room look a little darker. She had two lit lanterns in the small kitchen, one on the table, and the other on a wooden counter top. Aang continued to stare at the small flame in the lantern, wishing that he could throw all of his fears and problems into it.

The woman sighed heavily, "We all make mistakes young Avatar. And some of them, we can sometimes carry for the rest of our lives. You already carry the weight of the world, so please, don't carry the weight of shame or guilt too. It will only cause you more pain and suffering in the end."

Aang looked back at his bowl that was to the right side of the table, and placed his chopsticks in front of him. He knew what the woman said was true, but it was easier said than done.

"You know," he said, "I have been talking to you like we have know each other for years, but I don't even know your name. You know that I am the Avatar, but my name is Aang." Then he finished with a small grin towards her.

The woman looked at him, as if she was trying to decide to tell him her real name. But she smiled and held out her hand, "I am Ursa." she said. The monk smiled widely, grabbed her hand and shook it lightly.

"I guess now we aren't strangers anymore Ursa. It's an honor to meet you, but I am afraid that I must go now. My friends will try and track me down, and I must stay ahead of them." he spoke, as he got up onto his feet, still feeling a bit out of energy.

"You don't want them to find you?" Ursa asked curiously.

Aang looked down to the floor, and said, "Not if I can help it. I left to protect them, and it would only make things worse if they did catch up to me."

Ursa nodded, and stood up to the young boy, who needed to leave. She didn't get a whole lot of visitors, due to the fact that she lived far away from any town, and it was nice to finally have someone to talk to for once. But she knew that whatever Aang needed to do, it was for the safety of his friends that had now become his family.

"You should at least stay for one night. It is already getting dark, and your Bison could probably use some sleep as well. You both could." she said, which made Aang look up again. She could see purple forming underneath his gray eyes, and knew that rest would help him a lot before he traveled again.

"I-I don't know. You have already given me too much kindness, and I would hate to be a burden to you even more."

Ursa put a hand on his shoulder, "Not at all Aang. In a way, you almost remind me of my own son. And I believe your duties are to the people first, and I don't think they can depend on an Avatar who looks like he can't stand on his two feet!" she said, laughing lightly at her little joke.

Aang laughed a little, forgetting about his hurt ribs, and for a second thought it was a good idea. "I suppose I don't have a say in the matter?"

Ursa grinned, "Not unless you know how to convince a mother otherwise."

And with that said, she led the boy back to the room he was laying when he woke. Aang could tell that this was the only bed in the room, and he didn't want to take that from her, like he already did.

"Actually," he said opposing, "I tend to sleep better on the floor, if you don't mind?"

The woman gave him a strange look, knowing that he was lying to her. "It's an Avatar thing." he said, with a goofy smile that made Ursa laugh. Her laugh was so nice to hear, that it almost made him think of Katara again.

Ursa knew he was trying to be a gentleman, but she agreed anyways so that he could stay. The woman grabbed some blankets from the small cupboard, and laid them next to the other side of the wall from her bed. Once that was done, Aang laid himself on the blanket, and used his arm as a pillow, and closed his eyes.

But then the monk was surprised when Ursa put another blanket over him, and tucked him in it, as if making sure he couldn't escape. She smiled, wished him goodnight, and blew out the candle near her bed. The air bender couldn't stop smiling at the young mother before him, and how she treated him as if he was her son too. Whoever her children were, they were blessed by the spirits to have someone like her as a mother. Aang wished he knew his mother, and how beautiful she was, or if she tucked him the same way Ursa did. But for right now, he was content with pretending that Ursa was his mother.

A few hours went by, and the air bender untangled his body from the blankets and looked over at the young woman who was sleeping soundly. As quietly as he could, he got up from the floor, and walked over to his things, and started to pack. He put the unfinished necklace in his left pocket and the rest in his things in the bag. His heart was beating so loud, that he figured Ursa would hear it, but she still remained asleep. He continued to pack, and when he put his last bit of air nomad clothes in, his hand fell onto something cool. He reached in, and pulled out the clear element that he had forgotten about in his bag.

Then Aang wondered how much someone would pay for this object, and smiled, knowing that anyone would pay a hefty price for it. The Avatar, melted the liquid back into his hand, and began to form it with his other hand on top. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the matter at hand. It took him a couple of tries to get it right, but when it was done, he opened his palms and saw it.

On the bottom, was clear short grass, with a mother that had no face, who sat on her knees in clear ground. Her hair was long, just like Ursa's, but she was wearing clothes of royalty, with no nation symbol showing. Her arms were wrapped around a young girl and boy, who wrapped one arm around her neck and shoulders. The children's heads rested on each side of her cheek, but their faces faced south of her. The girl on the left had her short hair down, and the young boy on the right had his hair up. They too were in royal clothing with no symbols of a nation on them at all.

Aang was amazed at how quickly he was able to do this, and was happy to see that this new element didn't go to waste either. The monk swung on his pack, grabbed his glider, and the figures he just made for Ursa. He wrote a quick note, telling her that he was sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, and he hoped that she would understand. He also told her where to sell this new object, and who to trust. He folded up the letter, and placed the object on top of it, so that it wouldn't blow away. He slid the door quietly, and shut it even more faintly. The monk ran to the Bison who was asleep in the barn, but woke up when he heard footsteps. Aang air bended the saddle back onto Appa, feeling a lot of agony in his ribs coming back now, but continued anyways.

Once that was done, he threw his stuff on the saddle, and then grabbed Momo, who was still sleeping on the other side of the little animal shelter. He pulled the reigns of Appa, led him out of the barn, and then climbed up him as he held his breath while climbing in pain. When he finally settled down, the beast jumped, and began to fly.

Aang walked off the bison's head, and placed Momo on the saddle, who still continued to sleep. The monk walked to the end of the saddle, and sat down, with his arms on the edge. He rested his head on top of his arms, and sighed heavily as he watched the two bedroom house disappear. Wishing he could have stayed longer.

OoooooOooooOoooo

Five days later, Katara and the gang had at long last reached the shored of the Earth Nation. And for once, she was so happy to see land, but no one was happier than Toph.

"Ah, LAND!" she said jumping into the sand, and rolling in it, "Sweet, sweet land!"

Katara smiled at the young earth bender, who had been throwing up a lot during their long voyage. But Tao was always by her side, taking good care of her. At first she didn't need him, but when Katara told her that this was a good sign that he liked her, Toph allowed it. She seemed to _really_ take advantage of it too, with them staying up late at night, talking quietly.

Sokka was the next one off the ship, with Suki holding his hand tightly. The boomerang guy was back in his water tribe outfit, while Suki was in an Earth Nations shirt and pants. When it was Tao's turn coming down the rail, Toph jumped up and sand bended a pathway for him. He smiled at her, "Thanks Toph!" and rolled onto the hardened sand.

Katara of course was the last one off, waving to the Captain, and telling him to stay there until they got back. They knew the tavern was only a few miles away, but everyone was already complaining as they went through a small forest. Sokka, of course was cutting down everything that was in his pathway, with his trusty machete.

"Sokka, do you think that is a good idea?" Katara asked, "Especially after learning form the swamp?"

"Nope!" he said swinging away, "I told you before, trees aren't alive! How many times are we going to go through this?"

Katara was about to protest, but Toph stopped, and blocked everyone from going ahead behind Sokka, who just kept walking and talking. The blind girl pointed up, and when they all followed her finger, they saw a swarm of different kinds of birds at the top of the trees. And when they looked back down, they hadn't noticed all of the bird droppings until now.

"Ugh, Sokka," said Suki, "I think you might want to stop!"

The pony tailed boy continued on anyways, "Oh come on Suki! I hope you're not as superstitious as Kata…" but before he could finish his sentence, he felt something drop onto his shoulder. It was white, with dark colors in it, and then another fell on his head, and another on his boots, and before he knew it, it was raining down with bird droppings.

Sokka started to run back towards the gang, but ended tripping over a tree limb that he had just cut off. He rolled back onto his feet, but slipped from the birds little gifts, and fell flat faced into an ant pile. Sokka jumped up quickly as he tried to get the ants off of him, but wasn't able too.

"Ah!" he screamed like a little girl, "Get 'em off of me! Get it off!"

Katara summoned the water from her pouch, and threw it into Sokka's face, and then releasing it, not wanting that kind of water around. His face was red all over, with little mountains on it as well. The water girl tried to hold in her laugh, just like everyone else was trying to do.

"Ew!" Sokka said, as he tried to get the gooey bird junk off of his outfit, "Why do things like this _always_ happen to me?"

"If I said it once, I'll say it again," Toph quoted and folded her arms, "You make it too easy!"

Sokka was about to attack Toph, but Suki got in his was and stood between them both. "Look, lets just get to the tavern, and hopefully they will have a place for you to wash up in. Okay?" she said as sweetly as she could, still laughing.

"I don't think she'll want to kiss you anymore Mr. Poop head!" yelled Toph, in a sarcastic manner.

"Stop it you two!" screamed Katara, "We need to keep moving, because every second we waste here, Aang gains miles. So can we please go?"

Sokka sighed at the group, and knew Katara was right. "Fine, let's keep heading north then."

Sokka started to walk ahead of the group with Katara behind him, but a hand caught her hand. The water bender looked back at the arm, "Wait one second." said Toph with a crooked smile.

The next thing she heard was an angry yell from Sokka. Katara turned around and saw another gift landed on his head, and dripping down his nose. Then the Blind Bandit let go of her arm, and walked forward.

"Okay, now we can go." Toph said, as she walked by Sokka.

After a couple more miles of arguing, they had at long last come to the wooden tavern. All of the sudden, two guys went flying out of the opened windows, but they got back up and went back to fight some more. Katara breathed in and out of her nose, and walked through the house with no doors. They were surrounded by many men who were fighting, gambling, arm wrestling, and drinking till they couldn't stop.

Katara remember it being a lot easier to walk through these bums when Zuko was here, it was as if he was able to intimidate these people. The room reeked of sweat, old ale, and smoking pipes. Just about everywhere they turned, someone was off fighting, two or three guys at a time, or getting thrown into a table.

Toph was surprised to see how calm Tao seemed in a place like this, most people would be at least a little nervous, but Tao's heart beat calmly. This impressed her even more, but it was soon disrupted when a guy bumped into her, and grunted at her.

"Hey! Watch it you overgrown whale!" yelled Toph, causing the fat man who couldn't bring his shirt over his gut, to stop and look at the little girl that was half his size.

"Maybe a little girl like you shouldn't be in this place, you blind freak!" he said, and started laughing, and then all of his boys joined in on the laugh.

"Wait!" one of his buds yelled from behind, "how blind is she?"

The giant whale spoke, "Blind enough not see a mirror!" and he busted out laughing along with his drunken friends.

Toph clenched her fist, ready to show these guys just how _blind_ she really was. But Tao rolled out in front of her, "I think you owe this lady an apology you skunk hippo!"

The laughing stopped as the oversized man looked down at him, "What the hell did you say wheels?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he said sarcastically, "I guess skunk hippo wasn't good enough for you, you overgrown whale! So how about a joke then?" Toph couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she was liking Tao more and more.

"Your mama is _so_ fat, that when I gave her a piggy back ride, she ended up paralyzing me from the hips down!" said Tao laughingly, as he looked at the man. He could tell the man in front of him was getting mad, but his friends started to snicker at the joke.

"Or how about," Tao continued, "Your mama is _so_ fat, that she is the only person I know who can play hide and seek with her bellybutton!" This time the big guys friends busted out laughing, causing the man's face to turns red as he clenched his fist.

"And now for the grand finale!" he yelled towards the man's friends. Tao faced right in front of him, and looked up at the man with the wart face, and a nose that went to the side. "What do you call a fat man, groveling on the ground?"

Tao waited for an answer as he looked at the confused faces. Even Toph looked at him curiously. Finally he yelled at the whale in front of him, "You!" and punched the man right between the legs.

The next thing Toph heard was the man howling in pain, as he rolled onto the floor, while holding both hands between his legs. Toph began to laugh hysterically at the joke she just got, remembering that she need to do something like that someday.

His face was burnt red, and even a mixture of purple was in it. "G-g-get th-them you i-diot-s!" he whaled at them, and then his friends started walking over towards them, with sticks, and swords in hand.

Tao looked over towards Toph, and saw her mouth opened a little at him. He just smiled and said, "Well, I hope your fighting is as good as I remember!"

This made the blind girl smile widely at him; "Only if you let me have the one on the ground there!" she said pointing her finger to him, as he started scrambling up.

"He's _all_ yours!" spoke Tao, and with that, they fought 6 against 2 kids. One blind and the other crippled.

Katara heard a lot of cheering coming from the entrance of the room, but paid no head to it at the moment. She kept searching for June, but she was no where to be found. Finally she went to the bar, and asked the man behind the counter.

"Excuse me, but is June around by any chance? It's an emergency." she added.

The bartender turned around, and eyed the beautiful dark skinned girl. He was wearing an old shirt that was once white and was now a creamy color, which also had holes on it as well. It seemed to fit with his bushy, salt and pepper mustache, which he thought helped him show off his three front golden teeth.

He leaned over, and said, "An emergency, huh?" as he continued to look up and down at Katara in a disgusting way. "How much are you willing to bargain with Miss?" he asked with his eyebrows raised. Katara looked around the bar, and saw that Sokka was off trying to gamble for some money, while Suki kept telling him it was a bad idea, which it was indeed.

The water bender gave him a flirtatious smile, and grabbed the bartender's shirt with both hands, and brought him inches from her face. Her face had turned into anger, "I'll ask one more time." she said with her best threatening voice, "Where is June?"

"Ooh, you're a feisty one ain't yah?" he said licking his lips slowly, as he continued up and down at her. Katara could smell the stench of his alcoholic breath, and knew what he wanted from her. And it only caused her to get even angrier. She leaned her head back, while still holding the man's collar, and then brought the man's nose into her head, satisfied to hear a pop sound.

"Ah!" the man screamed, as he tried to stop the bleeding, "You broke my nose you little tramp!"

Most of the time Katara would have took that offensively, but it just washed off of her. "That's not going to be the only thing I break, if you don't tell me where June is!" she said clenching her fist, ready to release the ale that she had been summoning underneath the bar table.

"She's not here!" he answered at long last.

"You're lying!" she yelled and shook him a bit.

"No! I-I swear on my dead mother's grave! A young guy came in here four or five days ago and asked where she was too. And-and the next thing I knew, he handed her a bag of money, and she left! I didn't hear the conversation, but she hasn't been back since! And she always comes back on arm wrestling night!"

Katara didn't want to believe the man, but he seemed to be telling her the truth. But she needed to know who this person was. "Who is this guy?" she said pulling him close to her face again. He tried to back away, but her grip was too firm.

"I-I don't know who he is! He is maybe about your height, or an inch taller. I couldn't see his face, but when he turned, I saw a small scar on his far left cheek!" he said, trying to cover his grounds. "But I could be wrong, it was too dark for me to see, and that cloak of his didn't help either!"

"Wait, did you say on the left side?" Katara asked, thinking that it couldn't be possible.

The man nodded his head in fear, and raised his hands up, while the blood continued to trickle down.

The man was starting to sweat, "Umm…I think so? It was pretty small though. P-please, I don't know anything else. This guy was like a shadow almost."

Katara wide eyed him, realizing that it could have been just about anyone, but it could be very possible that Aang was covering up his tracks now. The water bender knew she was scaring the man with the mustache, and she normally wouldn't act like this, but she had to catch up to Aang. Whatever was going on with him, she wanted to help.

Katara looked at the drunken man eyes, and could see that he was indeed telling her the truth. So, she finally released the bloodied nose guy, as he stumbled backwards. Katara then took a gold fire nation coin, from the money that Zuko gave her, and tossed it on the counter. The man looked at her as if she was crazy, as he continued to hold his nose, hoping to stop the bleeding.

"For the trouble we have caused." she said, and walked away to find the others, and then let the ale fall underneath the bar to the ground. Sokka was still gambling money, as he threw another dice, landing on a spider snake eyes. He kept itching his face, which Suki would always end up slapping him. And now that Katara looked at Sokka, with his messed up clothes, and bumps on his face, he could fit right in with this crowd.

"Yea!" he screamed in triumph, "Now, all I need is one more!" And then he grabbed the dice, and shook them in his hands, raised his right hand up, ready to throw them against the three wooden cubicle. But before he could get the _right_ roll, Katara grabbed his wrist, which caused him to let go of the dice. The dices rolled and hit each other, and he ended up getting a Yo instead.

"What was that for?" he yelled into her face, feeling the anger building up inside of him because he was about to win some money. But when he looked at his sister, he could tell that something was wrong, and they needed to leave. And without saying another word, he nodded, grabbed Suki's hand, and began to walk away as he tossed in the last bit of his own money into the pot.

"Where is Toph and Tao?" Katara asked the couple next to her, attempting to avoid the crowd as much as possible.

"How should we know?" said Sokka, "They both ran off somewhere when we entered into the room."

Before Katara asked where, they heard a lot of men start to yelp in pain. The small group ran towards the noise of the crowd, and saw that about six guys were dog piled on top of each other. They all kept groaning in pain, and could see that they were too weak to even move. Then the water benders eyes caught that Tao was on the ground, crawling back towards his wheelchair. Sokka and Suki saw it too, and helped him back into his wooden chair. When they saw his face, a black eye was already starting to form on his right eye. His goggles seemed to have a small crack in them, but he was the happiest kid Katara had seen after a fight.

Toph walked over towards the gang, and dusted herself off. "Well, that was fun." she said looking at Tao with a big smile.

Katara wanted to yell at her, but that was going to have to wait for later. "Come on guys, we need to get back to the ship now?"

"What about June?" Suki asked as they began to walk behind Katara, who stopped when she asked the question.

"She's not here. Let's go." the blue dark skinned girl said, and walked out the door, with Suki and Sokka behind her. With the setting of sun in her face, and the winds blowing softly.

Toph was about to follow them, but then she felt a hand grab hers. "Hey," said Tao, "wait just one second." and then he pulled her towards the guy who had made fun of her in the beginning. He was at the bottom of the pile, and couldn't breathe. Tao rolled to the side of his face, so Toph could hear him correctly, and then grabbed his hair and pulled his head up.

"Now, I think you owe this girl an apology." he said, hinting that it was a good idea. Toph couldn't believe that even after kicking their butts, she was going to get an apology from him. But she knew that it wasn't going to be possible, but then again, they fought like a bunch of girls.

The man looked up at the blind girl, and said, "Sorry for bumping into you."

"And?" Tao asked politely.

"And…for calling you a blind freak."

"And?" Tao pressed again.

"And-and for calling you ugly…"

Tao then smiled at the bottom man and then decided to pull a kid move on him. He put half of his pinky finger in his mouth and said, "Thank you. Wet wiley!" and put the slimy finger in his ear. The man stirred as he tried to move, but gave up when no one got off of him.

"Okay," the wheelchair boy said, "_now_ we can go." And then he took Toph's hand and they rolled out of that bar scene. The earth bender was _very _impressed.

When they got back onto the ship, Katara told the Captain to stay near the shores and continue south. Or at least that was what her gut told her. She then walked out onto the deck, and found everyone sitting around in a circle, waiting for her. Sokka had changed clothes, and washed his hair. His arm around Suki, while Toph _stared_ at door behind them, while Tao looked at the blind girl from the corner of his eyes and smiling slightly.

Katara sat down between Sokka and Toph, and spoke, "June wasn't there because some mystery guy tipped her off, and she has been gone for maybe a day or two."

"So…" said Toph, "what does this mean?"

"It means," began Sokka, "we are right back where we started. June was our best hope at finding Aang, but now, now we don't know where to start?"

Katara looked up at the clear skies, and then back at the gang. "Well, from what the bartender said, Aang beat us to June."

"What?" yelled Sokka loud enough to cause Suki's to jump.

"I think Aang was there. The bartender gave a small description of him, and I believe it was him. It's he is trying to cover his trail, so we can't find him."

"Then" said Tao, "that means he's close by." Automatically, everyone looked at him curiously, as he continued, "Look, wherever he is, it seems kind of obvious that we could catch up to him easily if we had June to help. He knew we would use her, and needed her out of the equation."

"But her Shirshu can smell from long distances." said Suki.

"That may be true, but I don't think it would have mattered. Because even if he went somewhere far enough, then he could easily change his scent by using the perfume that you guys used before once." Tao said intelligently, remembering a story of that happening.

Katara was starting to kind of starting to see where he was going with this, but decided to ask the question that was on everyone's mind. "So, what are you saying then?"

"I'm saying, that he has to be somewhere in the eastern section still. A man doesn't cover his trails, unless he plans to stay close." the young inventor concluded.

"So," began Toph, "if he plans to stay close, like you said, then what place can he go to? We all traveled together to a lot of towns, and if he went back to Ba Sing Se, then we may never find him."

"No." said Katara, as her mind started to scramble through the maze. "He wouldn't go to Ba Sing Se, because whatever he is going through, he might be looking for help. And I don't think anyone can help him there?"

"What about his friend King Bumi?" Sokka asked curiously.

"No, I don't think so either. As much as they are friends, I don't think an earth bender is going to help him in this situation." announced Katara, and then looked back at Toph, "No offense."

Toph shrugged her shoulders, "Eh."

Suki spoke up again, "What other place could he travel to, where he could get help then?" The small group became silent at the question, as they thought hard about it.

"_Tao is right_." Katara thought to herself, "_if Aang was covering his trail with great care, then he would have to be somewhere close by_."

They were about 4 days behind him now, with the new information the bartender gave them. Which Katara hoped he didn't lie to her, because she would know where to find him again. The answer was right there under their noses, but it seemed like whatever the water bender thought about, only seem to come to a no.

Then a light bulb went off in Sokka's mind, "The Guru!"

Suki raised an eyebrow at him, "A…spiritual teacher?"

When Katara looked up at her older brother, it clicked. "Of course! When Aang needed help with the Avatar State, the Guru told him that he could help him. And he said that he could find him in the Easter Air Temple!"

"What makes you think this _guru" _Toph emphasized, "would still be there again? It's been months since Twinkle Toes saw him again!"

"It's our best guess right now." said Sokka, letting go of Suki and getting his Earth map from his pack, and laid it out for everyone to see. "Since he is using Appa, he can cut across a lot of land. It should only take him about 3 days in the least to get there, a week at the maximum if he stops a lot. Which is very possible? And It seems to be the perfect place to go in just those few days."

"How long would it take by boat?" asked Tao curiously, knowing it was going to be a long while.

"If we travel back to Kyoshi _Island_, it will be about six days, if we don't stop. And then another five days _if _stuff doesn't happen to us." Sokka ended.

"Well," said Toph sarcastically, "it's a good thing the universe loves you then, Sokka." The meat lover was about to protest, but then shut his mouth, knowing it was pretty true when it came to his Karma.

"What happens if we get there, and he's not there? Do you guys know anywhere else he could go to?" asked Tao.

Katara didn't want to think about that right now. She was hoping that by some miracle they could catch up to him, but it was going to be hard to do. They would need to stop for supplies eventually, and she didn't know how much longer Toph could handle being on a ship.

She looked up at Tao, and said, "Maybe we can figure it out once we get there."

Toph leaned over and whispered to the young inventor, "We always seem to make it up as we go."

The water bender knew Tao was right. He was just asking another question that was on hers, and the others mind. She had hoped that they could catch up to him, but it made things difficult when traveling by boat. And they always did seem to get some bad luck when traveling. They would indeed be lucky if nothing happened to them at all. The sky around her was getting darker, which seemed to bring the sleepiness out of her.

She got up and looked down at her brother, who rolled his map back up and placed it into his pack. "Then we need to get started. Do you think you can tell the Captain where to head to? I already told him to head south, so as of right now, we are on the right course."

Sokka nodded at his young sister, as she walked through the doors, and disappeared into her room, wishing Aang could just come back.

OooooOooooOooooo

Finally, at long last Aang and his animal friends had made it to the temple. The place seemed just so isolated, compared to the Northern Air Temple well Tao lived. In a way it made him sad not to see others attempting to take over the skies.

The air bender's mind started to wonder back to the last few days, when he talked to June, and paid her with everything he had. And then there was Ursa, who had become like a mother to him too. And how it took him five days, with rest and food to get there; however Aang didn't get to eat a whole lot. His friends always seemed to find something, but he didn't always have that luck. Even at times when he was desperately hungry, he would never steal food from any town they flew over. It was the way of the Monks, and he did his best to keep their ways alive in him.

Aang looked up, and saw a scrawny, dark skinned man at the top of the highest tower. He was in a meditative state, and didn't move when he heard them near. Appa landed just below the tower, and immediately the monk jumped off. He air bended the saddle off of the Bison carefully, so he wouldn't break the stitched on his body. He thanked Appa for everything, and then the Avatar told them that they could stay here and rest, while he went to go and talk to Guru Pathik.

Aang walked slowly up the stairs, toward the top of the tower. The man was still sitting peacefully as he walked toward him, "Guru Pathik?" he questioned.

But the man didn't move an inch. The monk continued to walk around him slowly, until he saw his face again. The Guru looked skinnier than he did last time he saw him. His clothes were the same, his white beard had grown a bit longer, and he had a piece of clothe that was tied around his head and covered his eyes. He waved his hand in front of the scrawny man, as if hoping he would blink or feel a breeze.

The, out of nowhere the Guru yelled, "Boo!"

"Ah!" Aang yelled back, and stumbled to the ground, landing on his butt.

The Guru began to laugh at the young air bender, "Oh how I love a good scare people sometimes. But the key is to wait until they are absolutely close, and then you spring out at them."

The monk scratched his head bald head, at him, but then stood back up. He bowed, and said, "Guru Pathik, I am in need of your help again. Something is happening to me, and I don't know how to stop myself."

"I know all about what has happened to you young Avatar. I have been visiting the spirit world everyday, and I could sense a disturbance in it." he said, as his looked up at Aang.

Aang sat down in front of him, and began to speak to him. "My past lives tell me that you might be able to help me. And right now, I could truly use your wisdom."

"Mmhmm" said the white bearded man, "I can see that you are a different person now, I could even tell from the way you walked."

The monk raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't speak. "You have indeed been through so much young Avatar. Things that a boy your age should never have to face, or deal with and I can also sense that a change has happened in your spirit."

Aang nodded, "That is what I need help with Guru Pathik." And with that Aang told him all that had been happening to him since Ozai, how everything was fine, and then it changed. He told him about how he liked fire more than air, about what he did to Iroh and his friends. He told him _everything_. When he finally finished the Guru still remained silent.

After about an hour of them just sitting there, the dark skinned man spoke, "Ah. So much has indeed changed in you, and it saddens me. But I believe I can help you, but it will take time."

Aang knew it would take time, so he asked anyways, "How long do you think?"

"Just as the Avatar's before you took years to manipulate all four elements, this will be the same process. It could take anywhere from five to ten years to master."

All of the sudden the monk started to feel sick to the stomach, as he processed what he just said. "Ten years? Why so long?" he yelled.

"Because it is not easy to conquer the evil that is inside of you, it takes much practice and skill to learn to stop this. He has already begun taking over your body, and you will need a _lot_ of time to learn and control this part of you, and it will not be easy."

Aang didn't like this one bit. He was hoping that the Guru could teach him in a matter of months, and not years. The air bender didn't want to do this anymore, but then a memory flashed at him. He saw Katara lying on the bed, unconscious, and bleeding from the head. She was so out of it that she could have passed to looking dead.

The monk couldn't imagine what could have happened to her, if Ozai had stayed in control of him till he killed them all . He knew that leaving her was the right decision, but he was still hoping that he could somehow get back to her quickly. If she could _ever_ forgive him.

The air bender sighed, "What must I do?"

The Guru smiled, "We must leave this temple."

Aang raised an eyebrow, "Why? I just got here."

"Because in order for you to succeed, we must travel through the lands in disguise."

The bald monk was still confused, "Why?" he asked again.

"I can only do so much here Aang. But out there, I can show you." he said

Aang nodded slowly at his wisdom, realizing that this was going to be even more difficult than he thought.

"And your friends are on their way as we speak. They seem to be very clever at trying to find you. Plus, if what you say is true, about what happened to you and your friends, then they cannot find us. It will only make things harder, if your loved ones are there."

Aang look up at the sky, as he realized that they were never going to stop looking for him. He didn't know how they could possibly find him. The monk thought that he covered his tracks pretty well, but it was possible that people could still see Appa, even with the cloud coverage. Aang didn't want to let Appa go, but it might be a good idea if he wanted to stay hidden for a long period of time.

Aang got up and bowed to the bearded man, "Then we should go Guru Pathik. But I need to take care of something first if you don't mind."

The old Guru got up and said, "I'll be waiting for you when you are ready." He grabbed his staff, and the blind man began to walk down the stairs of the tower.

The monk jumped down the building, and headed towards Appa and Momo, who were sleeping together. He smiled at them, and continued to walk forward. The Bison's ears perked up, and then he opened his eyes. Aang could see his own reflection in those big brown eyes of his, and saw the friendship that they had for each other.

"Appa," he began, "I need you to stay here with Momo, and wait for Katara and them." The bison looked at him with a strange face, and then shook his head.

"Look buddy, you have done all that you can for me. But I can't have you following me around, when I need to stay hidden. If it is possible to hurt my friends, then it's even more possible for me to hurt you. Your job now is to look after the others. Protect them as you would with me." he said petting his head. Aang could see that his spirit guide didn't like this plan, but he knew he would do it for him.

"I'll come back for you as fast as I can. I promise." Aang said, and then he jumped on his head, hugging him tightly. The tears started coming down his face, as he realized that it would be ten years before he saw his best friend again.

"Watch out for them." he said one last time, squeezing his Bison harder. Aang let go, and Appa licked him one last time. The monk smiled at his friend, and went over to Momo, who patiently sat next to Appa. The monk bent down, and scratched the lemur's ear, who then he began to purr at him.

"Momo, you stay out of trouble, and keep Katara warm for me. Watch out for her, will ya?" The lemur looked up at him curiously, and jumped onto his shoulder and began to lick his bald head. It made Aang laugh as he kept tickling him, and then he set him back him back down. Aang thought about leaving a note for the beautiful water bender, but decided that it might be a bad idea

The air bender went towards his pack; put it on carefully, so as to not keep his ribs from killing him again. He grabbed his staff, and started to walk off towards the Guru. The monk looked back one last time toward his last friends, that he wouldn't to see for a _long _while. Appa was sitting down, while Momo was on top of his head, with his ears down in sadness. The Guru put a hand on his shoulder, as Aang continued to look at them.

"Are you ready to begin Aang?" he asked.

The monk looked up, at the blind Guru, and nodded. "Where are we going?"

The old man turned and started walking towards the edge of the ground, "Wherever the wind takes us. But first, we need to find your inner self again."

The air nomad gave Appa and Momo a halfhearted smile, and ran toward the old man slowly. "How are we going to do that?" he asked when he finally caught up to him.

"First" he said holding up his index finger, "we will have some onion and banana juice." But before he got the wooden cups out, Aang stuck his tongue out in disgust, hoping he would never have to taste it again.

The Guru laughed, "I may be blind, but I can see your face reaction still. Our first lesson, is to find the inner child within you. I can sense that you have so much turmoil inside, that the loving and caring Avatar that I met months ago is not longer here."

"But how can this help me to win against Ozai's spirit?" asked Aang curiously, as he took the cup from his spirit teacher.

"In due time, just as the moon rises everyday, you too will learn why we must do this." announced the skinny man, as he poured his pouch into Aang's cup. Filling the air with the aroma of banana's, onions, and perhaps some pickles in there somewhere.

**Okay, so tell me what you guys think. I know I made Katara a little bit tougher, but we all know she can be just as tough as Toph sometimes. And I also wanted to give Tao and Toph a cool scene too,.I haven't done too much on them, so they needed it. I know the jokes are a bit stupid, but I tried to make it seem like them somehow. And don't worry, I'm not going to make Aang wait 10, 5, or even 3 years before he see's everyone again. I think I'll do one more chapter, and he will go back to them; however, he will have been away for a little while.**

**Anyways, if you guys don't mind, please review me! I do read all of your comments, because it keeps me motivated. Peace and Love Avatar fans.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Got another chapter up for you guys out there, and I hope you like it. I also want to say thanks to everyone who STILL comments on my chapters, and that it makes me happy to know that you take the time to do this for me. Also a shout out to jacobshermansd-thanks for seeing that I do put a lot of time and effort into these chapters for you guys. Also wanted to welcome kataangloverforever to the group, and I hope you continue to read and review them. **

**Thank you to all of my fans who have been with me from the start, YOU know who you are out there! Also, I'm sorry for not spelling air bender into one word. I just realized I was doing that, and it was DEFINITELY not right at all. So, that was obvioulsy my bad, but I believe I fixed it all in this chapter. Sorry for my grammar and spelling ahead of time.**

**I don't own Avatar. Back to the story!**

_Katara and the gang had at long last reached the Eastern Air Temple. It took them a while to figure a way up to the temple, but it was no longer necessary when Appa and Momo flew down towards them. Katara's heart leapt out of her throat, as she realized that they had miraculously caught up with Aang. As soon as the bison and lemur landed, the gang was all smothered with kisses from both of their lost and excited friends. It took had taken them two weeks, but they seemed to have at long last had some good luck once again._

_They all jumped onto Appa, who for some reason didn't have a saddle, and flew up to the sky high temple. Momo was on Katara's shoulder, with his tail curled around her neck, as she continued to pet the happy lemur. Tao was hanging onto dear life as the Bison flew into the wind, while carrying his wooden wheelchair in its clutches. When they finally reached it, they jumped off and began a search party. After many hours of searching high and low, nothing was found but dust, weeds, and vines that grew everywhere._

"_This doesn't make any sense" said Sokka as he scratched his head, and walking back towards the group, "I would have figured that he would be here?"_

"_There's no way for he would just leave Appa and Momo here, especially since he was upset about losing Appa to the Sand Benders?" said Suki questionably._

_Katara didn't know what to say at the time. All of her hope was shattered at the realization that Aang wasn't here. Her stomach and chest tightened up on her, and she felt like vomiting. The Waterbender knew it was a _long_ shot at finding him, but when she saw the animals, she just knew that he would be here. Momo licked her face again, as if trying to comfort her in some way, and it did help, but only for a second._

_They all pondered on the one question, _why_? It didn't make any sense at all, for Aang to leave them here. And who knows how long that they have been here in the first place. There were no trails, no starts of an old fire, or even a hint that they could be close by._

"_Maybe he truly doesn't want to be found." Toph said, breaking the silence in the group._

_Tao nodded, "I was just thinking the same thing." he said, as he played with his thumbs in sadness._

_The Waterbender didn't want to hear those words, even though she knew they were true. "Well, we can't give up. He left Appa here, so we might as well use him. It'll cut our time in half if we travel with him." she pointed out._

_Sokka agreed, "It most definitely would, and wherever Aang went, he is on foot, which means he can't travel as fast. I'd say it's definitely worth a shot."_

_Toph agreed, "Great…another reason for the blind Earthbender to hate you, all once again."_

_That helped lighten up the group a little bit as they smiled, and went looking for Appa's saddle. Usually, they depended on Aang to use his airbending to put it on him, and it was a lot heavier than they thought. After about a few minutes of figuring how to do it, they put it onto Appa, who didn't mind it in the least bit. They flew back to the ship, and told the Captain to send a hawk to Zuko, telling him that they no longer needed to use his Fire Nation ship. And to also say that they found Appa and Momo in the Eastern Air Temple, and that they were going to use him to help search for Aang. They thanked the Captain and his crew, and flew up into the eternal sky. But that was six months ago…_

OooooOooooOoooo

Katara was still starring up at the full moon above them, as Appa continued to soar through the skies. She could feel her bending growing stronger, after what she had learned from Hama. The Waterbender hated that she gained this new technique called Blood Bending. It scared her so much when she tried it on the man she thought was responsible for killing her mother, and she hoped that she would never have to use it again. She remembered when Hama gained control of Aang and Sokka, and how she used them as 'puppets' to try and attack her. And then she used Sokka's sword to kill Aang, and without a second's hesitation, she stopped Sokka before his sword penetrated Aang.

She took control of Hama's body, and saved her best friend from being killed in front of her eyes again. Katara hated this ability that was coursing through her veins, because it made her seem like she was a monster. It had changed her. But luckily she had Aang around her to help keep who she was in tact. He was always the one reminding her that nothing could ever change who she really was to him, and that she was still the loving and sweet girl that he met in that block of ice. It seemed like so many years ago, when she saw those gray eyes for the first time. The Waterbender clenched her jaw as she thought of the long, lost Airbender, and wondered if he would ever return to her.

Katara was now fifteen, as of two months ago. The gang tried to do something special for her, but she just told them that they needed to continue their search for Aang. Nothing seemed important to her anymore, and nothing seemed to make her smile either without him around. Food had lost taste to her, and even Toph's sarcastic remarks couldn't snap her out of this depression. The group behind her was still asleep, but she soon felt footsteps coming toward her. It was Sokka.

He was silent as he sat on the rear of the saddle with Katara, and sighed at her. He hated seeing his younger sister in this state, and it hurt him, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. He never felt so helpless in his entire life. Usually the boomerang guy had always depended on his younger sister to keep the love in the group, but her only obsession was to find Aang. Sokka hated the little Monk that broke his sister's heart, and he swore that _if _he ever returned, he would kill him, slowly and painfully. The night was cool and quiet up in the dark, starry sky.

"You okay?" he asked finally, knowing that she was going to lie to him. She was never good at it, because that was just not who she was.

Katara looked over at her brother, and saw the concern on his face. More than anything she wanted to scream at someone, and tell everyone she was fine, but she wasn't. "Of course I am. I just thought it was a nice night to stay up for a little bit."

Sokka half smiled at her, "Liar." he said, and then he saw Katara turn her head back to the full white moon, with no hint of smile from his sarcasm.

The dark skinned girl knew she was the worst liar in the world, but she didn't want to discuss what was going on with her. She felt the exact same way when she lost her mom, and when her dad had abandoned them both at such a young age, to go off and fight in the war. And she knew everyone was concerned about her, but they eventually learned to stop trying to make her happy, or talk it out with her.

"Katara," her older brother said sincerely, "we need to have a talk."

The Waterbender didn't look at him as she continued looking at the white sphere, knowing that this was going to be an advice talk of some kind.

Sokka continued, when he knew that she wasn't going to look at him. "We are all getting really worried about you, particularly me. And I know you want to find Aang, but we have been at it for six months, with no sign of him at all."

The blue eyed girl knew he was right. They had visited town after town, asking if they had seen a boy with blue tattoos, but every time, no one knew. Every once in a while, a rumor would come to their ears, about Aang helping people along the way, but when they got there, he wasn't there. _"He would just disappear"_ they always said. The gang had been traveling everywhere in the Earth Nation, but it was impossible to find just one kid out there, who hid himself from them.

"I think it's time you stop this Katara." Sokka finally said, hoping it would cause her to look at him, and it did. He could tell that she wasn't sleeping a whole lot anymore, and even her eyes weren't as soft and loving as they used to be.

"What are you talking about?" she asked quietly, knowing the answer.

"You can't go on like this baby sister. I can't keep watching your hope getting shattered every time, you hear something about Aang, and then you don't find him. You're scaring the others and me too. You have become obsessed with this, and it's not making things any better for you!"

Now it was Katara's turn to get mad, "And what would you like me to do? Hmm? Give up on him? Stop searching for the man I have fallen in lo…" and then she stopped herself, and looked away.

Sokka was shocked at the realization that his own sister had fallen in love with his best friend or ex-best friend now. He knew that they truly cared for each other, but loved? Katara seemed too young to find love, but then again, she was _way_ ahead of him on a lot of things when he was that age.

"You love him, huh?" he said stupidly, as he kicked himself in the butt for not seeing it. But maybe he had known all along, and didn't want to admit it to himself.

Katara gulped at what she just said out loud to her brother, "Yes…yes I do." she said, as a small tear ran down her right cheek, and dripping off of her chin. Sokka was tired of seeing his sister like this. Every night it was the same. She would cry herself to sleep, or she would wake up from a nightmare in tears and sweat. She said his name constantly in fear and tribulation; as she rolled around in her sleep, causing everyone wake up in a fighting stance. However, after some months, they had all become used to her nightmares and would sleep through when she would scream. Even Toph had somehow toned out her crazy pulse.

"I don't want to say this, but you need to let Aang go. He is _not" _he emphasized the word, "coming back any time soon it looks like. You need to stop this obsession."

Katara looked up at her worried through her watery eyes, clenching to her warriors clothes, and then shaking her head slowly, "I can't. We have to find him, he's our responsibility!"

Sokka remembered those _exact_ words when Aang was captured by Zuko, but that situation was different. "Not anymore." he finally said, "_He_ chose to leave us Katara, with no remorse."

"But I could have stopped him! I could have helped him! I…I mean _we_ all could have came up with a solution! If I hadn't had shot water at him, he wouldn't have reacted the way he did! Or if I had confronted him about the way he had been acting after Ozai, but I didn't! I sat back, and did _nothing_!" she yelled. The Waterbender didn't care anymore if the group was still sleeping; they were most likely listening anyways, to see the way she was going to react.

When Sokka heard this, things clicked with what Zuko meant about Katara blaming herself about Aang leaving. She was indeed doing it, and it only made furious at Aang for leaving them without a_ word_. If only that bald headed Monk could see that she was the one caring the burden, of his reaction and disappearance. But if it was anyone to blame, it was the way he reacted when he saw them kissing. He wasn't planning on hurting Aang, but he was going to rough him up a bit for not asking his permission to be with his sister. He thought that maybe the Monks had taught him about respecting older brothers, but what could he expect from a guy who hurt him as well, when he left.

"You can't blame yourself Katara." he finally said, to break the silence, "_I_ attacked him, and it set him off."

"I still could have helped him!" she said shaking her head again, with tears flowing constantly down her face, "If I can help bring him out of the Avatar State, then I could have brought him out of whatever happened to him." The Waterbender put her right hand over her face, as she held back her scream of pain.

Without hesitation, Sokka grabbed his sister, and pulled her into a hug. She tried to get push away from him, but his grip tightened on her, and she finally gave up. Katara had been trying to hold back her tears, but when he held her the way an older brother should when someone is in pain, she broke. All of her emotion came flooding out of her, and stained onto her brothers blue shirt. After a few minutes, she made the tears stop, and pushed herself off of him, allowing her sit back in her original spot.

The Waterbender wiped her weakness away, and sat there for a second. "It wasn't Aang."

Sokka looked up at her strangely, "What are you talking about?" he asked rhetorically, "It was all Aang's fault!"

Katara knew her brother was right about that, but it wasn't what she was talking about. "I mean when Aang attacked us. Before I was struck, I saw the way he looked. There was this instant moment where I saw red in his eyes, but it disappeared when he threw the water back at me."

Her older brother shook his head, "It doesn't matter Katara. He attacked you, and then us. It was probably just the light anyways. You don't need to defend him anymore Katara, because he did that to you!" he said pointing at her head.

The chocolate haired girl reached up her hand up towards the top of her left skull, feeling the small scar that remained there. It was all that she had left from Aang, before he left. "I'm not! But I'm telling you Sokka-!" and before she could finish, her pony tailed brother interrupted her.

"I can't let you do this to yourself anymore. I promised dad that I would look after you and protect you, even if it means from yourself!" Sokka yelled.

Again, Katara fell silent. She hated that he was right at just about everything he said, but she didn't want to give up on him. She needed to find him; she needed to see those gray eyes again, that were like beautiful storm clouds circling inside of them. Her joy and happiness was found within Aang. He brought that child out of her, he taught her that she could be herself, and still have fun at the same time.

"We took a vote Katara…and we all think…it's time to go home." Sokka said finally, waiting for her reaction.

The heavyhearted Waterbender looked up at her brother, and saw the tears that stained his blue shirt. She knew that he didn't want to give up on finding Aang, but there hadn't been any types of rumors for the past two months. They all did what they could; even Zuko was constantly trying to find information, without causing a stir to his people. They had done everything they had, but did she? Suddenly, the dark skinned girl felt a small lemur leap onto her right shoulder, and began licking her. She gave Momo a small smile, which Sokka couldn't see, and started to scratch behind his little ears as he purred at her.

Sokka put a hand on Katara's free shoulder, "You know Aang doesn't want us to find him. Me, you, and the others can't go on like this. He's my friend too, and I want to find him just as badly, but…I can't just sit here and watch you do this to yourself. When he wants to come back, he will." _And then I'll beat him up so bad, it'll wake the other Avatar's up. _, he thought to himself.

Katara looked over at the small group that acting like they were sleeping, and could see that they all agreed with her brother. Maybe it was pointless to search for someone who didn't want to be seen. The Waterbender felt _so_ lost, and it was tearing her apart from the inside out.

She looked back at her brother, and nodded…regretfully. And then the dark skinned girl looked out onto the horizon, trying to see if by some miracle something would happen, but it didn't. Sokka gave her a side smile, and said, "I'm sorry." and then he went back to sleep next to Suki.

Katara couldn't believe that she had just agreed to stop looking for the person that was most important to her, besides her family. She knew she was no longer herself, and that it only made things worse as they all continued to follow her in this never ending search. Her friends had indeed done more than she could have hoped for, but it still wasn't enough; however, she did agree with what Sokka said. If Aang wanted to be found, he would have left something, or _anything_ for them to find, but he didn't. She didn't know if something had happened to him, or even if he still cared about her. If he Aang did care, he would have at said least said goodbye. How hard could it be to tell someone goodbye, especially if the other person wasn't that important to them?

Silently another tear was falling, and she wiped it away quickly. If they were going to stop looking for Aang, then she was going to have to let him go too. He was obviously able to do it with her, so how hard could it be? It was time for her to move on with her life, and live it, instead of wishing constantly. Katara laid her body down, and began to try and put her memories of Aang away, but there were too many to forget so easily. Momo crawled to where her stomach was, and leaned up against her, as it tried to sleep. It was so strange to her, that the little lemur was constantly by her side since they found both of them at the temple. It was like he and Appa were both trying to protect her or something.

OooooOooooOoooo

_One year later…_

The Airbender and the Guru had been traveling for many months now. He didn't know how long it had been, since he lost track due to his constant training, and he didn't know where they were at. Aang knew they were still in the Earth Nation, but it was places he had never seen before. Anytime they came somewhere with children playing around, Guru Pathik instructed him to go and play with them. It was actually pretty nice being able to just be a kid again, but he still didn't understand the point to all of this.

Every once in a while, they would stop and observe something that nature did. Aang remembered on of these moments specifically, during his first month of training.

_They had come over to a pile of rocks, possibly from sliding down the mountains. There were tons, and tons of rocks piled high. But a single flower grew in it still._

"_Tell me Aang," the bent down Guru motioned him over, "what do you see?"_

_The Avatar looked over and saw it, "Lots of maroon rocks, and a black, red striped lily?" he asked questionably._

"_Very good. Now tell me the significance of the lily then?" he said pointing to it._

_Aang scratched his bald head, "It's…alive?"_

_Dark colored man smiled, "Exactly. Underneath all of those rocks, it was still able to grow. It struggled its way to the highest peek, in order to get some sun."_

_The Monk wondered how the blind man could see all of this, "So…what does that have to do with anything?"_

_Guru Pathik put a hand on his shoulder, and stood up, "Even in the darkest of places, where there seems to be no light, or water even for the lily, it can still find its way out. This is no ordinary lily, but a flower who _strained_ its way out. If you were to lift all of these rocks, you could see the vines that are everywhere in these rocks."_

_Aang was getting ready to do just that, but the Pathik stopped him. "I want you to connect to it young Avatar, without moving anything. Go ahead, touch It." he insisted._

_The tattooed boy looked at him weirdly, but did so anyways. Aang bent down, and touched the lily lightly, and as soon as he touched it, his energy was connected to it. He felt the length of the stem that went through this crazy maze in order reach the sun. It reminded him so much of what he once did in the swamp, and how he had found Appa just in time. Aang smiled at the memory, but brushed it away quickly._

_The bald Monk opened his eyes when he went to the bottom of the root, and even the roots itself were spread farther than the rocks did, "This…lily went through so much. It made many mistakes, but it kept going. And then, it finally found a hole."_

_The Guru smiled, "Very good, Aang. It's amazing to think that a single seed can still grow over tons of rocks. You have just witnessed the story of this flower personally, and what have you learned from it?"_

_Aang paused, and looked at the lily again. The sun was blistering hot, but he continued to stay focus on the matter at hand. "It represents life." he said looking up at the blind man and continued, "No matter how impossible the struggle is…you can always find a way out. Even after going in the wrong direction, and making mistakes, it was able to find its way to the sun. To the thing that shows it love?"_

_Guru Pathik patted him on the shoulder, "Nature finds its own way of expression, in the simplest form, however complex."_

"_Just like when I looked at it from the beginning. It seemed so simple, but after touching the lily, I saw how _complex_ it really was." Aang said, understanding more and more._

_The white bearded man nodded, "You have taken the first step into realizing that in order for you to move through life, Life must move through you."_

_The Airbender smiled again, "It's what keeps us connected."_

"_Indeed. You are learning very quickly young Avatar, and it pleases me that I will have the privilege in showing you _many_ more things." said Guru Pathik._

And the Guru did keep to his word, but that black, red striped lily had stuck with him through these months. They were both lying on the grass, looking up at the cloudy sky, with a half moon, or at least he was. Aang still only managed to get very few hours of sleep every night, due to his nightmares. His mind and dreams were constantly on Katara and the gang, and it ached every time he thought about her. Even after, however long, he still remembered every part of her face. How long her hair and eyelashes were, every line on her face, the ocean blue in her eyes, or when she would laugh, it was like Angels singing to him. He loved how soft and velvety her skin was, and how she could make the ugliest thing look so beautiful when she stood next to it.

Aang put his both hands under his head as he laid down, and continued feeling the cool breeze on his hot body. His temperature would change at often times, but he still remained hot constantly. And he wondered if that would ever change? The Monk looked over and saw that the Guru was back into a meditative state. He could be there for days, or perhaps even weeks if he wanted to, and not move an inch.

"You should try and get some sleep, young Airbender." the Guru said quietly, as if not to make the sun wake.

Aang wasn't surprised that he knew he wasn't sleeping, but he could never tell with that blind fold on all the time. "I can't sleep long. It doesn't help that I dream of…" and then he stopped in mid sentence, as he was about to say Katara's name out loud.

But the bearded man knew, "You dream of her? Katara?"

The Monk looked up at the skies, and would rather have had both of his ribs broken right then and there, than to feel this torture inside of him when he heard her name out loud. Aang had not mentioned her to Guru Pathik since he was trying to control the Avatar State. "How did you…" he asked, and was interrupted.

"Because you say her name every time you sleep. I have never once heard of a man say so many time how much he loves a woman." Guru Pathik said, without moving again.

The Monk blushed it what the Guru must hear every night, during his few hours of sleep. He never knew that he talked during his sleep, and that worried him just a little.

"Did you ever tell her that?"

"Tell her what?" Aang asked looking over at the skinny man.

"That you love her?" he asked as he got out of his meditative state turned towards Aang.

The tattooed boy rubbed his hands through over his face and through his shaggy hair again. He was happy to finally let it grow back after many months without it, and it tended to help hide his arrow on his head. He always wore a conical hat, which was made of straw, to make the situation better. But now that his hair was back, he just wore a green Earth Nation headband.

Aang stretched his hands over his head on the soft grass, with his palms facing up, and sighed, "No…I couldn't. Not after what happened." His recollection of that day came rushing back to him, like a wave crashing against rocks.

"Did you not think to tell her before then?"

The Monk shook his head, "No…so much happened, and I just couldn't."

Guru Pathik shook his head in sadness, "We all make so many excuses when we want to tell someone that we love them, and then it is too late. The one who is afraid to risk all that he has will never gain more than he has already taken." And with that last thought, the Guru laid down, and went to sleep with his back facing the young boy.

Aang didn't know what to say to that, because he knew it was true. He had that one, _special_, day with Katara, and he still couldn't tell her. He kept doubting himself, and her, when all of the signs were there. The Monk wasn't willing to take the risk, and for that, he gained nothing more than a broken heart. And he was sure that he hurt Katara, more than he could fathom. But after learning about his dreams, and then hurting the Waterbender, he just saw no point in telling her. Aang wondered that even after what he did to her, and their friends, would she still have loved him?

The young Airbender pushed himself up with his elbows, and stood up to the cool breeze that was still blowing gently. He walked down to a stream that was less than a mile away, and splashed water on his face. The cool spring water dripped onto his neck, and down to his back until it reached his swim trunks. Every time Aang looked up into the stream, he was always expecting to see Ozai, but instead he only saw himself starring back.

It was the first time, in a long while, that Aang actually examined himself. He looked older and worn from their travels around the Earth Nation. The Monk was a little bit tanner, which made his blue tattoos, and his gray eyes stand out more. Even the purple under his eyes stood out too. His jaw line was sharper, and whatever baby fat he had, it was now gone too. His muscles had also toned up a lot, which made his veins pop out slightly since he continued to train himself harder everyday. He would carry rocks around, just like when Toph was first teaching him to be rock himself, and he would also practice his water abilities, but it didn't last long for a certain woman would pop into his head. He tried to fly around more and more when it was necessary, and he stopped using fire all together.

Aang had also grown a lot more as well. He was maybe an inch shorter than the Guru, which made him smile, knowing that he was still growing. The young Monks training was difficult with the Guru, and at times, he would nearly killed him as they _both_ fought against Ozai. Guru Pathik had taught him not let the pain and anger flow into his heart, but to use his stomach to control it.

_6 months ago…_

"_Now that you have learned that your heart is the area to protect, you must use your chi to bring it back to your stomach. And the final thing that you must do, is think of an object that can help you stay in control as well." the Guru announced_

"_Can it be a person?" Aang asked, and automatically thought of Katara._

_But the Guru shook his head, "No. Because if you are ever angry at that person, than they cannot help you. And it may even be possible for him to manipulate your past memories of that person, to his own will. No, it must be an object."_

"_So something to distract me?" the Monk asked, trying to understand._

"_No. Distractions can only last for a few moments. It must be something that you constantly think of, and would never grow tired of looking at its flawlessness."_

_Aang thought long and hard about this, and thought about the sword that he made for Sokka. During their journeys on the ocean shores, he started collecting oysters with pearls in them, and would take them out of them. He had learned from a kid he was playing with, that it was possible for Earthbenders to make shapes out of the white spheres. But the little boy only had one pearl, and it wasn't enough for him to make something._

_Aang had once seen Zuko with a unique dagger, that his Uncle gave him, and he said it was one of a kind when Iroh broke through the first walls of Ba Sing Se, and the defeated General gave it to him. When Sokka lost his 'space sword', he had come to admire the small dagger. So the Airbender thought that he could use another _special_ sword to wield once again. When he had the sword bent to where he wanted it, he took it to a master swordsman, and he put the handle on it. Then Aang asked if he could carve a blue inscription that said, "A great swordsman is defined by his Creativity, Versatility, and Intelligence." At least that is what Master Piandoa said to Sokka, when he trained with him. _

_But the sword wasn't important to him like Katara's necklace was. Then he asked, "What about this?" and pulled it out as he held it in the air. The blue ribbon flowed with the wind, as it carried the circle of elements in it. He had finally decided to put a simple inscription on it, saying, "Love is brightest, in the dark."_

_Aang also made a few more changes to the dark blue ribbon, by sowing tiny white air elements, and light blue water symbols around it. He would always have a lot of time on his hands, and it helped to keep him distracted sometimes._

_The Guru looked at it, and said, "Hmm…this is indeed something worth trying. Let us test it then."_

_Aang closed his eyes, and sat in a meditative position. He breathed in and out, with time slowing down more and more as he searched for Ozai. They had found out that wherever he was hurting most, then that it where he would most likely be. At times it was from Azula's lightning strike, some old burn marks, and even in his ribs. The Monk didn't know how long it was, until he found a small energy in those old, messed up rib of hiss. And when he found him, Ozai's spirit attacked him, and Aang fought back with his strength. _

_His body began to sweat, as he tried to control his breathing. Aang couldn't see what he was fighting against, but it was growing stronger, and stronger in him. He could feel fire flowing threw his blood, as he continued to fight on the inside. The Monk was losing to this spirit, as it continued to flow up higher into his heart. Aang had learned that the heart is what connects them to life, and when it is take away, you would be destroyed... _

_The Guru watched as Aang's tattoos began to light up, while his breathing increased faster, and his stomach was flexing the whole time. Guru Pathik knew he was losing, but he tried to remind him as he spoke out, "Now, I want you to use the necklace. Think of every detail, every single piece of string attached lined up in it, and how long it took you to finish it."_

_The Monk could barely hear what the Guru told him, as he fought chaotically inside of his body, but did as he said. He thought about the blue lace that captured the dark blue ocean, and then he thought of the white airbending and light blue waterbending symbols, that reminded him of his home, and the Northern Water Tribe. He could feel the tension in his body dying little by little as he thought of this, and continued. His mind went to the sphere element that he found on the beach from lightning and how it was clearer than water itself. He thought about the two elements that flowed inside of it, that could be made into a cloud. _

_Aang had followed the Guru's instructions on not thinking Katara, which he found to be difficult when it was _her_ necklace, but he managed to. He could feel his own body cooling down finally, and the spirit of Ozai, continued to fade, until he felt him disappear somewhere else. Aang opened his eyes, and felt a sweat drip down his nose, and onto his Fire Nation pants. His entire body was drenched with sweat, and he felt soar, like he had just fought a huge army._

_The Guru bowed to Aang in his seated position, and said, "Good, good Aang. You are making progress more and more. But as you grow stronger, so does Ozai, his spirit will come back ten times more. Onion and banana juice?."_

_Aang got out of his meditative position, and fell back on the ground, still breathing a little fast. Then he heard a sound of liquid being poured into a wooden bowl, and automatically, he held out his hand. When he felt the wood surface on his fingers, he grasped it, and sat up. The Monk drank the onion and banana juice without complaining anymore, as his taste buds had become atoned to it. And in a way, it helped him calm down a little bit faster._

Since then, the Guru and Aang would both continue to fight Ozai, and everyday, it was harder. But he needed to prepare himself for whatever was to come. It helped have Guru Pathik there to guide him, and be his only friend now. And that seemed to help make Aang smile, knowing that he was making progress.

The Airbender held out Katara's necklace in his hand, and examined it He was very proud of the effort and time he put into it, but he never knew if she have liked it. Aang closed his right hand, and squeezed it tightly. He had tried not to think of the beautiful Waterbender, but it was nearly impossible when everything around him reminded him of her. He looked back up at the half moon again, and felt his chest tighten. He wished he could see her face one last time, without having that fearful night of her bleeding down her face, while lying unconscious on the bed.

He clenched his jaw and felt a tear run down cheek, which he quickly wiped away, as if it was embarrassing to him. The Airbender didn't know why he kept this _object_, when he wouldn't see her for a long time. But he put it back into his left pocket again anyways, and splashed his face one more time. And then he got up, and looked back at his reflection until the water calmed, and then went back to the Guru. He sat on the soft grass, and knew he wasn't going to sleep at all tonight.

OooooOooooOoooo

That next week their pace had been slowing down a lot more as they continued to travel the Earth Nation. It wasn't like Guru Pathik to do that, but none the less they pushed on. The bearded man still let Aang continue to play with the kid's everyday. It had almost become a routine, one in which he did enjoy. He still didn't ask why he _made _him do this, but he would hope to learn soon, as he did with everything else. Aang also continued to study the scrolls of Avatar Predictions, and was amazed at how some of them were accurate, and even off base, but none the less they were close.

When Aang finally finished with his game with the sun setting down, he went back to the outside of the town, and found the dark tan man lying down. He had laid out some food for the Monk that he must have gotten while he was playing. There was a bowl of noodles, bread, rock candy, some fruit, and five flavored soup, with a little kick in it. The Airbender ate it with much contentment, which filled his appetite half way. When he was done, he cleaned the dishes in the stream close by, put them back in his worn out pack, and sat down next to the Guru.

It was another long and hot day, but it was nothing compared to the Fire Nation. He looked at the bearded man, and could see that he looked a little bit paler than normal. Almost as if he was sick. Guru Pathik was sleeping more, and more everyday they traveled, and it was really starting to worry Aang. The Monk looked back out, and saw the wind picking up some. The grass had become like waves, as it bent to its will.

"Go ahead and ask what you want to know, young Avatar." said Guru Pathik, as he continued to lie on his side, with his right arm as a pillow.

Aang raised an eyebrow, but then asked, "Why is it that I must find the inner child within me?"

"Because, a child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, it's full of wonder, love and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us, who use that clear-eyed vision, it takes away the true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring. It becomes dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood." he quoted, as if he too had gone through the same thing.

The Airbender sat there, and picked up a piece of grass, and began to play with it in his hand. This was indeed some heavy wisdom for him to process, but he still didn't get how finding his inner child will help him defeat Ozai's spirit.

"Tell me Aang, when was the last time, before I came to help, that you remained a child? And I'm not meaning when you were a child physically, but when you had the _spirit_ of one?" the bearded man said, clarifying what he meant.

Aang paused, and thought hard about this, as he tried to remember his past. The first time he came out of that block of ice, he went penguin sledding with Katara, which made him smile again. Many more memories came flooding back to him, like when he joined the Fire Nation School, and threw them a 'secret dance party'. But they all stopped when he defeated The Phoenix King. He had one more memory, and it was when Katara and he went to the Northern Temple, and they both flew for hours upon hours. And that was it.

The young Monk opened up his fingers loosely, as he let the wind catch the grass, and it started to dance with the air. "I suppose…" Aang began, "it was after my defeat with Ozai. It changed me so much, and I felt like I lost myself." he admitted with great agony.

Guru Pathik sat up slowly, and sat in Indian style, "Exactly. People do not understand how strong a child's heart and spirit can be. We tend to change, and put away childish things, in order to grow, but we lose sight of the world around us. And we are then _made _to look at the world through eyes of a grown person."

"But I am the Avatar, is it not so that I must do this?" the gray eyed boy asked.

"Just because you are the Avatar, it doesn't change the fact that you are still a person. You have felt pain, loss, love, hope, and seen the effects of life. I wanted you to find that love in you that can make you different to your past lives. Because no matter the amount of darkness, it cannot hide the spark of a child's heart." the Guru finished with a smile towards him.

Aang had never thought of it like that, or how it was _so_ important for him to see himself as a kid again. A kid who had fun. He remembered what he said once to Sokka, when he first met him, and Sokka had banished him.

_Katara was defending the Airbender, "Aang is not our enemy here. Don't you see? Aang has brought us something we haven't had in a long time, fun."_

"_Fun?" Sokka said with sarcasm, "We can't fight Fire Benders with fun!"_

_Aang only responded with a smile, "You should try it sometime."_

The Monk laughed quietly at this, remembering those good old days, when his only concern was to learn the four elements, and impress Katara somehow. Aang was truly having fun when he was with those kids, learning new moves, new games, and other strategies. It helped clear his mind of the past and future, and made him concentrate on the matter at hand, if he wanted to win against those Earthbenders.

"You have that child's spirit Aang, and it has been growing in you without even realizing it. And it has indeed helped you grow too." the Guru said, as he broke the young Monks trance. "Someday Aang, I will not be here. And you must remember _all _that I have taught you, if you are ever able to defeat Ozai."

This caught the Airbender off guard, "Why would you say something like that Pathik? I still have so much to learn. And what if Ozai does take me over, and I cannot gain control back? How do you rid a spirit in you?"

Guru Pathik went back to lying on the green grass, and said, "Just remember what I have taught you. The rest you can figure out on your own." And with that said, he went back to sleep, just as the sun disappeared into the sky line. Aang felt a little tired too, and decided to follow the Guru's actions, and fell right to sleep. He hated the thought of the Guru not being there to help him, but for now, he didn't worry. Knowing that he was going to wake up next to him, and continue their training for many more years to come.

As always, within a few hours, Aang woke up like he always did, and sat up. There was absolutely no wind, for the first time, and there was something eerie about the late night. The Monk then he looked over at the Guru resting place and found clothes without a body, and a letter underneath it. Aang quickly went over, and read the letter, wondering if the Guru had decided to go all commando with the world finally.

_Aang,_

_I'm so sorry, but my time has at long last come. I have lived in this world for more than 150 years, and I have done all I can for you within a year and a half. My purpose in this life is over, but a new one begins. The journey never ends young Avatar, no matter if there is death or life; we all have a part to play. And I have played mine in this, and I will continue on in another._

_Aang, the last thing I wanted to leave you with, is that you must never shut yourself off from love. Love is what connects us to every living thing. Just as when you thought that you lost the love of your people, you were able to find it in a new form in Katara. You _must_ tell her how you feel, because love is far more powerful than any bending or spirit out there. And Ozai will use it against you, if you keep holding it back._

_You must also remember Aang, that you are never alone. Your friends need you, and you _will_ need them in the end. Continue your training, and keep that child's heart a flame. Ba Sing Se is very near by, so use the rest of my money, and buy yourself some more clothes. There is still enough of my personal mix, to hide your tattoo if you ever feel the need to use it again. Goodbye my young friend, and don't forget to drink some onion and banana juice every so often._

_Guru Pathik_

When Aang finished reading the letter, tears were streaming down his face, and onto the paper that he now held. He couldn't believe that he was actually gone…his best friend, who had taught him so much in a year and a half, had vanished.

Aang's mind ran back to those three words, _year and a half_. Had it really been long since he ran away? He couldn't believe that he was already fourteen, which Katara was now sixteen. She was of marrying age as of last year…

The Monk crumbled up the letter, and put it against his head, as he continued crying. He didn't know what he was supposed to do next. The Guru had always guided him, and he had hidden himself from the world for so long, that he didn't know what was going on out there. Yes, he had helped some people along the way, but not to the point of going into the Avatar State. The gray eyed boy looked over at Pathik's clothing that lay on the ground, in a scary ghost like way, and then he looked up into the starless night, that was covered by many clouds.

Aang stood up, feeling wobbly all of the sudden, and then his body started to heat up again. He could feel Ozai finding the root of his emotions, as it tried to get it's claws into him, but Aang was able to use the stomach technique, which made Ozai disappear again. Sometimes it was easy to get rid of the evil spirit inside of him, while other times, required more concentration. Lucky for him, this was nothing.

He let the tears continue to flow, and then stood up, and grabbed his pack. It had many small holes in it, and it was worn out from the journeys they took, but it was still doable. He was happy that the Guru had left him some more money, because his clothes no long fit him, and he had to cut them off in order to wear them. He didn't own shoes anymore either, but kind of like the idea using his Earthbending abilities as Toph taught him. And it was the perfect disguise for the Avatar to hide in plain sight.

He grabbed the mixture, that the Guru had made for him to hide his tattoos, and put the rest of the money in their as well. He picked up his staff, slung on the finished pearl sword, and was about to unfold his glider, but he turned back to the area where Pathik's body was still imprinted on the grass.

He bowed respectfully to it, and said, "Thank you my friend. I will try to honor you by remembering all that you have taught me." Then Aang unfolded the letter that he had crumbled into his hands, and unfolded it again. He read it one more time, making sure that Ba Sing Se was where he needed to go, folded it up nicely, and placed it in his pocket, along with the betrothal necklace. Aang spread the wings of his improved, blue glider that Tao and his father had made for him, and flew towards the great city.

It took Aang about a half a day to travel to Ba Sing Se, and seeing the great walls again. He landed about a mile away, so as not to draw attention to himself. He put his black cloak, and warrior gloves back on, and placed his pointy conical straw hat onto his head. The walls were still just as high as he remembered, and couldn't believe that it seemed like ages ago since he and his friends came here looking for Appa. The Airbender missed his giant friend, wishing that all was well with him, and that he was protecting Katara.

The Monk caught a ride on the Earthbending train, and remained inconspicuous in the crowd. When the train stopped, Aang got off, and walked for miles until he found Iroh's shop. But when he got there, Iroh was nowhere to be seen. He asked the employees, but none of them knew exactly where he went, until he asked the Assistant Manager, who was a bit younger than he was. The young boy had brown spiky hair that was kind of pulled back, with green eyes, and a smile that would make anyone smile back.

Aang looked down at the kid who was at the height of his ribs and asked, "Do you know where I can find Iroh?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, but he told me not to tell anyone where he went."

The Monk looked at him weirdly, wondering why Iroh had hired this twelve year old as an Assistant Manager, but Iroh always knew what he was doing. "Please, it is of great importance that I find him." Aang said bending down to his face.

He shook his head, "I-I can't. I made a pinky promise with him not to tell…_unless_ you know him personally?"

Aang smiled, "I do actually. We are old friends."

"Good," the young boy said, "then you won't mind answering a few questions for me then?"

The Airbender nodded, "Not at all." And with that said, he took him to the back of the tea shop, and asked a series question that Iroh wrote down for him. Some were trick questions, but he was able to get it right. When every question had been answered, the boy nodded at him.

"You have answered everything right Avatar Aang." he said with a huge smile, and came running up to Aang and hugged him tightly. His excitement had finally reached its peak as he continued to jump up and down.

Aang didn't know how to respond to this, but he bent down and grabbed the boys shoulder, trying to calm him. "Look, umm…?" he tried to hint at the young mans name.

"Lee!" he said with more enthusiasm.

Aang smiled, "Okay, Lee." And the boy began to jump up and down again when the gray eyed Avatar said his name. But Aang shushed him, and tried to calm him down once again. "Why do you think I'm the Avatar?"

"Iroh told me only a few people would know these answer, but you answered things that only the Avatar would know." Lee said with happiness in his eyes.

Aang laughed a little, and thought to himself _"Good old Iroh."_ And then said, "Fine Lee, I am the Avatar, but I need to know where Iroh is."

"He went back to his home, for some kind of meeting that's going to happen in a month and a half? He never told me where his home was, but he left two days ago." Lee finally said.

Aang sighed heavily, "Thanks Lee." The Monk got up, and was about to walk away, but then asked, "Would you like to do me a small favor?"

Lee's face lit up like a flame, "Absolutely!"

The Avatar smiled, and got a piece of paper, from the desk to his right, and wrote down all of the supplies that he needed, and handed it back to Lee. "Okay, I need you to get these things for me as fast as you can, and meet me back at the entrance of the train, near the wall."

Lee smiled and nodded, as Aang handed him some money. "It's my break time anyways." and the kid ran out the back door.

Aang waited patiently for a couple of hours, and saw the boy running back towards him as fast as he could. He handed him the bag, and he looked in it to make sure all was there. There was a bunch of food, and a new rock bowl that he needed. He also had another Earth Kingdom outfit, a black cloth that would cover his neck and the bottom half of his face, and the ingredients for his cover up for the tattoos. Aang smiled, and bowed to the small boy, reached into the pouch, and gave him three gold pieces.

The Airbender got up, and was about to leave, but a hand grabbed his sleeve and made him stop. Lee then gave him a gloomy look, "Are you leaving us again?"

Aang sighed at the young boy, who seemed to still believe in him after his disappearance. The Monk bent down to him on one knee and put his right hand on his shoulder, "No. I just needed…some time to figure something's out. But I promise Lee that I will not leave you or anyone else ever again." and he meant it.

Lee smile, and held out his balled up fist, with his pinky held up high, "You _pinky_ promise?"

The Airbender laughed, and took his pinky, "Promise."

The green eyed boy showed his teeth at him, and then his eyes got wide when he saw the hilt of Aang's sword handle. "May I see your sword?"

Aang smiled, and pulled it out of its sheath with his right hand, feeling the new gray leather around the silver hilt, and handed it to the boy. The light glistened off of the white pearl sword, as Lee began to play with it for a few minutes, twisting and turned with the sword. Aang was a little impressed at the way he could handle a sword, and then he handed it back to him. He put it back into the black sheath, and got up, using his left hand on the glider to help him stand.

"Is this the same type of sword that Zuko has?" Lee asked curiously.

The gray eyed Avatar looked down at him when he put his sword back into the sheath, "How do you know him?"

"He gave me a dagger that looked _exactly_ like, and I gave it back to him."

"Why?" Aang asked, as he continued to wait for the next train.

"Because he was Fire Nation, and I hate them…but Iroh has been teaching me that it's not right to judge people by their nation, because he says there are good fire people too."

The tattooed boy looked back down at the brown haired boy, and said, "Iroh is right you know. I too struggled with the Fire Nation when I found out that they killed my people, but they are just as much people as you and I are." Then Aang decided to ask, "Do you hate me for knowing how to use fire?"

"What? No!" he said instantly, "Your the Avatar, and your suppose to learn it!" Lee yelled.

Aang calmed him down, and looked around to make sure no one heard him what he just said. When all looked clear to him, he said "Then you shouldn't hate them either. Fire Lord Zuko and I are personal friends, and he taught me how to use fire."

Lee's eyes got huge, "_He_ taught you fire?"

By about this time, the train had pulled up, waiting for the passengers to exit the city. "He sure did. And for a Firebender, he's not that bad once you get to know him. He was my teacher, and my friend. So, please listen to Iroh, and keep an open mind with people." _Especially since he too was Fire Nation_, he thought to himself.

Lee nodded, as he took in the words from the Avatar. The young boy hugged him one last time, and waved goodbye to Aang, as the train disappeared through the walls.

OooooOooooOoooo

It took Aang almost a month and half to finally get to the Fire Nation, with a few days spare before this meeting. He had flown most of the way, landing on ships here and there, and even running some of the ways. It was night time, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see someone. He knew Iroh would be there, but it was Zuko he needed to talk to now. He was able to sneak past all of the guards, and climb up the small wall that protected the Fire Lord's palace.

And then, as if nothing had happened, he knocked on the door, and in a few minutes a servant came, and opened the door. He bowed, "I'm sorry, but Fire Lord Zuko is sleeping right now. If it has something to do with the war meeting, you may ask it when we begin in two day." And with that said, he shut the door, and left Aang out there in the summer air.

"_War meeting?" _he thought to himself. Had he truly been gone long enough for another war to start? Aang banged on the door again, and continued until the old man came back.

The man swung the door open, "If you do not leave these premises, I will call the guards on you! Now please leave!" He started to shut the door again, but Aang stopped it.

"Tell Fire Lord Zuko, that an old friend has come to see him. I'll wait for him hear." Aang said mysteriously, pointing to the left side with his finger.

"I told you, the Fire Lord wishes not to be disturbed!" yelled the servant.

The Monk looked up underneath his hood and said, "Tell him, Sifu Hotman needs to talk to him." And then Aang walked to the left, and took off his pack, and leaned his glider on the railing. He then jumped onto the ledge, and crouched, waiting for the server to do it.

The man didn't want to disturb the Fire Lord, but at the same time, he new this 'Hotman' fellow, wouldn't leave until he spoke to him. So he shut the door, and walked to his Majesties room. He knocked twice, and slid the door open.

"Fire Lord Zuko?" he asked nervously.

Zuko's eyes opened, and stretched his legs out. "Do you know what time it is?" he said with a small yawn.

"It is still late, but a man has come to see you my Lord and he won't leave until you do."

"Is it of most importance?" he asked a little irritated.

"He says it is, and he said that he will be waiting for you outside of the house. I waited to see if he was joking, but he has been waiting on the ledge for ten minutes now." the server said.

Zuko rubbed his face, and talked through his hands "Who is it?"

"He said his name is Sifu Hotmam?"

And automatically Zuko yelled, "Don't call me that!"

The Fire Lord could tell that he had scared his server, and apologized to him. But why would he react to that? Only one other person had called him that, and it was…and then Zuko's eyes got big. He put his fire pants on, and a silky red robe, with gold stitching on the side to cover his upper body.

"Wha-What is it Zuko?" a woman asked with an agitated voice.

The scarred up man bent down, and kissed his wife on the cheek, "It's nothing Mai, just some business that I have forgotten to take care of."

"In the middle of the night?" she said grabbing his left arm that was over her.

Zuko smiled, "Go back to sleep."

She yawned, and said, "I'll find out eventually." And then she rolled over, and fell back to sleep.

Zuko quickly went to the door, and slid it faintly. He thanked his servant for the message, and saw him wipe his sweat of fear away. The server bowed, and left Zuko to do his business.

The Fire Lord ran to the front door, and opened it. To the left, he saw a shadow, in a dark cloak, leaning up against the railing now. He was about his height, maybe an inch taller, with long shaggy hair, worn out Earth clothes, dirty feet, with an expensive sword over his right shoulder, and a staff in his left hand. To Zuko, he looked more like a man who had been on a long and dreadful journey. The dark figure in the cloak pulled his hood off, and looked at Zuko through those gray eyes of his.

At first, Zuko didn't recognize the man, but he continued to study his features more closely. Those gray eyes stood out more with the dark purple color underneath his eyes, which was most likely from a lack of sleep. And then a small breeze moves the man's hair, revealing sky blue tattoos that he and his friend had been searching for.

Aang could tell that his friend was either in shock, or had become a mute in the past year and a half, which he doubted. The Avatar bowed respectfully to his friend, "It's good to see you again Sifu Hotman."

Zuko could hardly recognize the voice of the young boy he had once trained. It was a little deeper, but it still sounded like him in a mysterious way. "Aang?" he finally managed to say, and then the man in front of him only smiled and held out his left hand.

The Monk could see that his friend was still a little confused, and possibly thought it was his spirit that he was seeing. But after a few seconds of holding his hand out, Zuko embraced his arm and shook it. And then his friend did something he didn't expect, he pulled him into a one handed hug, while Zuko's right still gripped Aang's arm.

Aang laughed, "I guess some things have changed a little." Hinting on the hug, but he was just as happy as he was to see Zuko again.

"You have _no_ idea." Zuko emphasized. The Airbender could tell there was a lot that he had to catch up on, and probably things about this war meeting too. The Fire Lord patted him hard on the shoulder, and led him into his palace.

**Okay, so I know I sped things up a lot in this chapter, but I'm kind of one of those people who doesn't like it when Aang stays away for periods of chapters. I know its sad to say that the Guru is gone, but it doesn't mean he can't help him in the Spiritt World, so I might bring him back sometime. I also know the sword is random, but I thought it would be cool to see Aang still thinking of his friends, and how much Sokka's Space Sword meant to him. ****Again, I hope you like this chapter, especially now that he is back, and a war is possibly brewing again?**

** Please comment/review and tell me what you think. I can't please everyone, but I did try my best. Peace and Love Avatar Lovers!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, first off, thank you guys for the comments once again. You fans out there keep me going, and I really enjoy writing this stuff out there for you too. Also to answer a question for Bookworm5509-the plan was for him to go back when Ozai was out of him, but things have changed now that the Guru is gone. Guru Pathik told him to go to Ba Sing Se, which he did, but he was going to find Iroh since he was in the town. When he didn't, he went to the fire nation, but decided to visit Zuko while he was there. And now that there is a War Meeting, he seems to believe that maybe this is where he is suppose to be after all. The Guru also told him that he will need his friends, and that they will need him too, so that's also another hint. **

**And also, sorry for my grammar and spelling ahead of time. It's really hard to catch errors sometimes, when chapters are this looooooooooooong.**

**Anywho, I hope you guys like this one, it's the longest so far. Sometimes I can't find the write spot to stop, so I keep writting until I'm content with the ending. I don't own anything of Avatar again. Now, back to the story!**

The first thing that Zuko made Aang do, was wash himself off. If he hadn't have known who Aang was, he would have considered him a beggar from the streets, who just happened to have a nice looking sword on his back. The Monk enjoyed the long luxurious bath, and was happy to finally be cleaned at long last after his journey. Zuko then got him some pants, and a silk robe to wrap around his body. When that was finally dried and dressed, Zuko and the Avatar began their questions.

Not much had changed in this place to Aang; everything still smelled like fire, and the heat was a little unbearable, but he seemed to manage for now. The Airbender was starving from his long and hard journey, but he restrained himself from asking if he could eat. It had been so long since he had a real conversation with a person, who wasn't always trying to teach him a lesson on something. But that was exactly what Aang missed the most from Guru Pathik. Now, he didn't know what to do, or where to go, but he seemed to be needed at this war meeting that was coming quickly.

They both sat in a room that was once Zuko's Prince Chambers, which actually seemed to fit his personality perfectly. Zuko was leaning up against a small desk, while Aang sat on the footsteps leading up to the giant bed covered in red.

"So you're telling me" Zuko said crossing his arms, "that you have been in the Earth Nation for the past year and half?"

Aang nodded, "Yes. The Guru seemed to think it was the perfect place for me to train, meditate, and learn about life."

"What sort of training?" he asked curiously. This is was one of those questions that the Airbender didn't want to answer, because he didn't want them to be constantly worrying about him, or becoming afraid of him.

"More than anything, it was like a spiritual journey. He wanted to show me a better way to control the Avatar." Which wasn't the whole truth, but he didn't lie about it.

The scarred up boy still wasn't convinced, "But you have already mastered the Avatar State, or at least that's what you said once."

The Monk looked up at him with pleading eyes, "Zuko, don't make me lie to you." He said leaning forward on his knees.

The Fire Lord shrugged, as he unfolded his arms "What do you expect me to say Aang? You ran off, you didn't say goodbye, no message to tell us you safe, or even a hint that you were still alive. So don't lie to me Aang!" he yelled.

The Airbender was a little frightened at his reaction. He knew that he had hurt a lot of people, but Zuko made it seem much worse than he could fathom. If Zuko was reacting like this, Aang couldn't imagine how it was going to be with everyone else…especially a certain Waterbender.

The Avatar sighed and closed his eyes as he said, "The only thing I can tell you, is that I did it to protect you." Aang looked back at him, "All of you."

The Firebender shook his head, and was beginning to get angry now. "It's not good enough. Everything that you did, was not for our protection! You always have another choice, and you chose to run, just like you did with the Air Nomads!"

Aang cringed back at that memory, and was surprised that he would play that card on him, but he knew he was made. And he deserved it. "You're right Zuko." He said with a heavy heart towards his people, "I did run. And it ended up costing everybody a war that lasted a hundred years, and many deaths that I could have helped prevent. But what I chose to do was different."

The tattooed boy looked up at Zuko, who had fire burning in his golden eyes as he waited for an answer. Then Aang whispered, "I chose to stay. And it ended up costing me everything, because I was selfish."

Zuko looked at the man before him, as he sat on those stairs, starring up at him through those gray eyes his. He had learned how to read people, and he could see so much pain and struggle in those sleepy eyes, but he was still mad.

"What are you talking about?" he asked anyway.

"A long time ago, the Avatar's told me that I had to leave. It was for something that I won't say, but I refused them. And for the consequences, I hurt everyone that became my family." Aang said looking at his hand, "So I didn't have a choice anymore when I saw what I did. They told me I couldn't have anyone there to be with me, for your safety. Only the Guru could help me with this situation that I'm in."

The Fire Lord took into consideration of what happened that night, and how it had changed them all. But it still didn't give him the reason to run, and not say anything to them.

"You still could have chosen something else." the Firebender said, with a little less anger in his voice.

Aang looked up from his hands and back to his friend, and then he calmly said, "I never _chose_to be the Avatar, Zuko. This isn't the kind of life I wanted. You of all people should know what it's like to make difficult choices. No matter what decision you make, it will _always_ affect the people closest to you."

The Monk paused to take a breath, and continued, "No matter what, the ripples of our verdicts will pass through others whether it's right or wrong. For me, I made the _right_ judgment when I left. But at the same time it was wrong, because it hurt the only family I had left in this world."

The golden eyed man had never thought of it like that before. For three years his purpose in life was to hunt down the Avatar, and take back his honor. He had disappointed Iroh, and hurt many others along the way, because he thought that that was right to him. And now that he is Fire Lord, he has tried to do the right thing every time, even though it wasn't always the best choice. He would listen to his advisers, the Generals, and Iroh as well when he was around. But it still seemed like Aang could have done something different still.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were at least okay?" the Firebender asked in a much more calm tone.

This question was easy for Aang, but hard to answer, "Because I knew you guys wouldn't stop looking for me, if I told you where I was. And it would be harder on me too, because it's possible that I would have told you where I was." The Airbender shook his head, "I couldn't let that happen…not with the training I was doing."

The corner of Zuko's eye caught the bright crescent moon that was in the night sky, and he continued to look at it, as the room became to be silenced. _"Maybe Aang did know what he was doing"_he thought to himself, he just wished that the Monk would tell him what he did the entire year and a half he was gone. But for now though, he knew Aang wasn't going to answer the most important questions, at least not tonight.

The Fire Lord looked back at the young man, who had his head down in shame and torment at what he just said. He felt really bad for wailing on his friend, and only making it worse for him.

Zuko decided to change the subject to help lighten the mood, "Mai and I got married."

Aang looked up at his older friend, and gave him a sincere half smile, "That's great Zuko. I always knew that you two would make it in the end."

Zuko gave him a smile back and leaned off of the small desk, and walked over towards Aang. He sat next to him, with space between them and said, "You know, we, umm, we tried to wait for you. But…"

Aang finished the sentence for him with a heavy, "But I was gone."

The Firebender nodded, "Yea. I was going to make you my best man, ya know."

The Monk was shocked at this. He couldn't believe that he would have chosen him to be his best man. And it made it all the more worse for Aang that he couldn't be there to see their beautiful wedding.

"Oh yea? Who did you choose instead?" he asked curiously.

This made Zuko's smile disappear, "Sokka."

The Airbender smiled at the Firebender's upset face, "How did he do?"

Zuko took a deep breath in and then let it out, "He was good, until the wedding was over with, and he decided to give a toast_._Which turned out to be a disaster, especially after telling everyone that I would hunt you guys day and night, and that Mai was with Azula hunting us down. He had obviously tried to make it funny, but all you heard was silence and coughing."

Aang laughed, "You can always depend on Sokka to tell horrible jokes all day, but that's just who he is." he said, remembering all their adventures together, and Sokka who _tried_ so hard to be funny. "How is he doing?"

Zuko leaned back on his elbows, "Good. He and Suki are engaged too, but there's one problem; Sokka hasn't made a betrothal necklace from Suki yet."

This caught the Airbender off guard, "Yet?" he emphasized.

"Yea. Suki was leaving to go back to the Kyoshi Warriors, and finish her training. It would take up to six months, and Sokka just couldn't live without her. So right before she left, he asked her to marry him, and she did…oddly enough. Toph says that she will never understand why any girl would want to be with Sokka for the _rest_ of their miserable life."

Aang laughed lightly, recalling that she had a small crush on him after staying with them for so long. "How is the Blind Bandit these days?" Aang asked.

"You mean, besides the part of her hitting people, acting tough and being as much sarcastic as she can?" Zuko said describing her, and smiled, "She seems to be good too. She's really turning out to be a beautiful girl, whom Tao refuses to quit on." Zuko said, and saw the confused look on Aang's face, and continued, "Toph refuses to go out with Tao, even thought they are literally perfect for each other. But Tao still pursues her, and it doesn't seem that he will give up."

Aang nodded, "I hope he doesn't. Toph may be a tough rock, but she has definitely got a soft spot for Tao. At least when I left, she seemed to anyway." The room became silent, when the Monk's mentioned his leaving. But luckily enough, his stomach growled loud enough, to avoid the silence, and change the subject.

Zuko lifted an eyebrow, "Guess your appetite hasn't changed either." he asked rhetorically, and got up. He went to the sliding door, and asked the guard that was posted to get him lots of fruit, a huge bowl of spicy vegetarian noodles, and a loaf of bread. The gray eyed boy's mouth began to water at the sound of the delicious food that would soon be heading to his way.

After sitting for so long, Aang's body was beginning to cramp up, so he decided to get up and stretch his sore muscles. He was glad to know that everyone's life had moved on without him, and it saddened him that he missed special events that he should have been there for. Now, there was only one person left that he _truly_ wanted to know about, and she had long chocolate hair, and ocean blue eyes.

Zuko shut the door, and saw Aang standing there, examining the walls around him. He couldn't believe how tall he had gotten for a fourteen year old. Zuko had grown too, but it seemed like Aang caught up with him anyways. However, from what he had learned, just about every Avatar was very tall. He no longer had the body of a little boy, but of a young man's now.

The Firebender knew who he was going to ask about next, and it was going to ache him when he asked. In the beginning, he kind of wanted him to suffer, but after learning _some_ things about his disappearance, he didn't want to make it any worse.

He tried to help keep his mind off of her, "Appa and Momo seem to be doing good too. They eat just about everything in my palace, and they also know how to damage this place up too."

Aang's eyes got big at the mention of his long lost friends. "Wait! They are here?"

Zuko smiled, "Yea. Been here for a couple of weeks now, and your Bison has like ten stomachs to feed!"

Aang laughed like a little kid, "That's because he's a ten ton Bison! And I can't imagine Momo letting Appa beating him when it comes to food!"

The Fire Lord leaned against the wall next to the sliding door, and smiled, "Yea. That little Lemur has caused me some trouble in finding things he's not suppose to. And there seems to be bits of his fur in the food as well, so be careful when you eat it."

Again the Monk laughed, and then he though, "_If Appa and Momo are here…then that means that Sokka and Katara are too!"_

The Airbender was about to ask his next question, but it was interrupted when a big tray of food came out of the sliding door. Zuko thanked the server, walked over to Aang, and handed him the tray. The Avatar dug into the food, starting with a big bite of bread that he didn't chew all the way, and swallowed it, feeling the sharp points of the bread going down his stomach. Then he went for the soup, and it made his eyes water at how spicy it was. He finished off with the last moon peach, and drank the rest of water that was in a golden cup.

When he finished, he laid down on the floor, and burped loudly at his satisfied stomach. Luckily, it seemed to wake no one up. The monk was still hungry, but he was content with his stomach for right now. It felt nice to be back. Then again so much had changed, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know about Katara…but he had to know.

"How is Katara?" Aang asked hopeful.

Zuko closed his eyes, wishing he didn't have to tell him this, but he was going to know about it sooner or later. "She's…umm, she's doing great too. She teaches kids waterbending at her home, and her grandfather says she is by far the best Waterbending Master he has ever seen. Greater than he ever was at that age, he once told me."

This made Aang smile, he was glad that everything was well with Katara, and that her waterbending had grown stronger. "That's awesome! I'm glad to hear that she is teaching kids now. She has always liked kids, and it seems like the perfect job for her. Is she here? Are they _all_ here for this war meeting?"

The Firebender folded his arms again, "Yea, they are actually. But, Aang I need to tell you something…it's about Katara."

The Monk sat up from the floor, and looked at Zuko. When he saw the emotion in his eyes, he knew he was going to say something he wasn't going to like.

"Katara…is kind of…with someone now…" the Firebender said slowly, and regretfully.

Aang all of the sudden felt sick, as his chest tightened up so much that he felt like he couldn't breath. The Monk was waiting for Ozai to spring up at his reaction, but instead he didn't, and Aang was thankful. Especially, since he seemed to always attack when he saw a weak spot, and he didn't. This made Aang a little happy, because he didn't want to explain what was going on with him.

The Airbender still couldn't believe it. _Katara. With. Someone. Else._Aang never thought in his entire life, that those words would be in the same sentence. He truly thought that she would have waited for him, but at the same time, he knew it was a risk. The Monk thought that their love for each other would have kept her going, but he had been gone too long, and it was too late. The Guru was right. Because he didn't tell Katara how he felt, he gained nothing…nothing but pain and torment now. He thought about her every single day of every second, no matter if he was awake or asleep, he was constantly thinking of her. And how he was going to at long last tell her that he loved her, but now, now he can never. She was no longer his.

Zuko could see his friend being crushed at this news, and he tried to help a little. "They just recently got together. For a long time, she refused to be with anyone. But Higen has been her friend since he arrived at the Southern Water Tribe, and I was just as surprised when she finally said yes to him."

Aang shot his eyes up, "She's not…I mean, they aren't…?" The Monk just couldn't say the word without throwing up.

But Zuko finished it for him, "No. They aren't engaged, but Sokka has told me that he has been making one for her."

The tattooed boy then asked, "Does Sokka approve?"

The Fire Lord sighed, "In a way. He says he's not bad, and his waterbending it pretty good too."

Aang just didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to scream, while the other side was building up with rage. The demon inside of Aang was still not attacking him, and it seemed to scare him all the more now. Aang and Guru Pathik thought that they had this spirit all figured out, but they were both wrong. Suddenly, he felt the warmth of the sun rising on his back, and it helped calm the storm brewing inside of him.

The Monk got up slowly turning his back to Zuko, and facing the sun heat now. With a hoarse voice, he said "That's…great. I'm happy to know that she has found. Someone. She deserves that much." Aang could feel his eyes watering, and he was happy that Zuko couldn't see them as he wiped them away. The room became silent, with nothing but Aang's heart beating slowly against him.

After some time, the Airbender couldn't take this awkward silence anymore, "Umm," he said, and then he faked laugh, "you said Appa and Momo were here?"

Zuko knew he wasn't taking this news well at all, and he felt great remorse for telling this to Aang. "Yea, they are in the back sleeping probably, but Momo is with Katara."

"_At least Momo was able to keep his word to me."_he thought to himself. "Thanks Zuko." And then he bowed, "Do you think you could get me some clothes? I don't think I want to go out in Earth Kingdom stuff."

The Firebender sighed, "Yea. I'll make sure that they give you something. Anything in particular Aang?" he asked, hoping to lighten his mood a bit.

"The Fire Nations school uniform, and the clothes you used to wear when you taught me Fire." Aang said, and walked outside, leaving Zuko to do what he needed to do.

Once he heard the door shut, the Monk fell to the knees, with one hand over his eyes as he squeezed his temple, and the arm holding him up. This time, he couldn't hold back his tears, as they showered through the cracks of his fingers. Without even realizing it, Aang was digging his fingers into the rough stones, which caused his fingers to begin bleeding. And that was when Ozai attacked.

His body became like an inferno, as it coursed through his veins. This time, though, Aang didn't do anything. He just let the demon run wild inside of him, doing whatever it wanted to him. Aang could feel the evil slowly taking over his muscles, and gaining territory in his spirit. The rage and pain was growing stronger, and he still didn't do anything. Until a woman's voice, which he had never heard before, say _"Don't give up yet."_

Aang opened his eyes instantly, as if realizing what was going on for the first time. He then began his stomach routine, using his chi to help. He didn't know how far the spirit had gotten in him, but he could tell it was close to his heart, because he was losing control of the good in him. When his chi was able to bring him down a little bit, he started to think of the necklace that was now in his bag. He did just as the Guru had taught him, and Ozai began dying away, but still fighting strong, as if he just tasted first chance at freedom. Finally, the Monk took one deep breath in through his nose, and feeling the evil spirit moving somewhere else as he let the air from his lungs go.

He opened his eyes slowly at the world around him, and saw that he spend only minutes fighting the demon, judging by the half risen sun. To him though, it _always _felt like hours. It was amazing how after some minutes battling a spirit, it would make it seem like he just fought an army single handily. Aang grabbed onto the ledge with his right hand, and pulled himself up. He breathed in the warm fresh air one more time, and went back inside. He could see the two pairs of clothing on his bed, folded neatly. He went over to outfits, and began putting them on. It was nice to have clothes that could actually fit him, without having tons of holes, and rips in them.

Aang decided to wear the gray pants from the school, as well as the black long sleeved under shirt with red stripes down the side. He cut off the part of the shirt, where it would normally cover the arrows on his hands. He then put on Maroon tunic on that went was just above his knees, and had gold lining on the outside. He tied the golden belt around him, and was about to put on the new head band, but instead he left it on the bed.

Aang went to his bag, dug through all of clothes, until he found the worn out Fire School headband he always wore. He could see the some of the sweat marks that were stained on it now, and it was no longer a dark red, but a faded color instead. Aang then got the stuff to cover up his tattoos, and rubbed it on his hands, and then his forehead underneath is shaggy hair. The Monk took the old headband, and smiled as he tied it around his head, proud to wear something of the past. He then got his pearl sword, and swung it on his right shoulder.

The Monk picked up his clothes old Earth Kingdom pants, and searched its pockets for the Guru's letter and Katara's necklace. He placed the necklace in his left pocket, and the creased letter in his other. The Airbender put on the black shoes that went up his calf, hid his bag and glider under the bed, and left the room.

He walked through the Palace, asking the servant where the backyard was. She gave him directions, and he walked that way. By about this time the sun was finally over the land line, and it was shining bright. He walked the court of stones that were on top of the green grass, passing through many fountains that blew fire out instead of water. And some did have water flowing out of them too, surprisingly.

Aang continued on and came to some stairs that he walked down. When he finally reached the bottom, he saw a big ball of fur just sitting, and looking up at the sky, like he was waiting for him to return. Tears of joy started to roll down his face, as he ran towards his best friend.

"Appa!" he yelled, and then the Bison's ears perked up at his name. It turned his head, and then his eyes big brown eyes got big at Aang running towards him. The Monk jumped on his forehead, like he always did, and hugged his Spirit Guide. Joy came rushing out of the Monk, like it did when he found Appa in Ba Sing Se. It had been so long since they saw each other then, and now, it seemed like it had been forever.

"I missed you buddy!" he said into his fur and squeezing his hug tighter on Appa. The Bison closed his eyes, as he felt the presence of his best friend. Happy memories came rushing into their minds, as they connected to each other once again. Their bond for one another was still strong, even after he had been gone for so long.

After a few minutes of Aang hugging his friend and all of the tears had finally stopped, he let go. When he landed on the ground, Appa pushed him down on the ground and began licking him constantly. The kid laugh came out of Aang as it echoed through the halls of the palace, and he didn't care who heard. Finally Appa moved off him, when he was satisfied of Aang being covered in his slobber from head to toe. The Monk got up, and could feel the drool slipping off of him, and then he airbended it off of himself.

Suddenly, the Monk could feel vibration of walking footsteps heading in his. They weren't ordinary footsteps, but they were graceful and womanly. Aang knew exactly who it was, and he turned back to Appa quickly, who had so much euphoria in him now.

"Appa," the Airbender said quickly, "start growling at me!" The Bison cocked his head sideways, giving him a confused look.

"Please boy!" Aang begged, "Please!" Then Appa got into a fighting crouch, and started growling at Aang, like he was his enemy. The Monk started backing away slowly, with his hands up to his shoulders surrendering.

"Hey!" he heard the woman with the Angels voice screaming at him, "Get away from him!"

Aang didn't turn his head, but continued to keep backing up slowly. Then the woman came running towards Appa, and began to calm him down. She started talking to him, while Aang looked up at the Goddess before him. She still wore her Water Tribe Warriors outfit, which still made her look so stunning, as well as her two water pouches that wrapped to her back side. Her long chocolate hair was still down to her hips, with her hair half up. He could still see that she still wore her hair loopies, due to the small breeze that was blowing.

When Katara had finally calmed Appa down, she handed him two watermelons, which he ate reluctantly. The Waterbender petted the Bison's head, and turned around. The Monk swore that his heart stopped beating for a few seconds, and then it went crazy all sudden. As if it had finally awakened. She looked the exact same as she did when he left her, but she had grown too a little bit too. Katara's eyes were still filled with the love that only her blue ocean eyes could fill, her skin looked just as smooth and soft as he remembered, and her voice was still like honey to him. The feeling of free falling with her came back much stronger than he could have ever fathomed.

Katara turned to the boy, who was messing with Appa and was about to yell, but she stopped herself as she looked up at him. He looked like he was about her age, if not a year older, and he was by far the most gorgeous guy she had ever laid eyes on for a Fire Nation guy. Instantly, Aang came back into her mind, as she saw those stormy gray eyes that no one seemed to have. His features were that of a strong warrior, but also someone who didn't sleep a whole lot, due to the purple bags under his eyes. The Waterbender head was just under his chin, and he had the body of a lean looking man. She studied his face, and then caught a small scar on his left cheek, and for a second she thought it was _truly_ him, but he was missing one important key; blue arrowed tattoos. She looked at his hands, and saw that the bottom of his black, red striped sleeve cut off at the wrist, revealing hands with no arrows on top of them.

Aang could sense the two elements forming in the betrothal necklace, and feeling the weight of it getting heavier in his left pocket. He gulped at the amazing woman before him, as they both continued to stare at each other. The Monk blinked, as he got out of his trance that Katara had put him under, and decided to introduce himself.

"Hi." he said as casually as he could, feeling his cheeks burning "Umm, my name is…Kuzon." and then he held out his hand. He hated to lie to her, but after learning that she was with someone else, he just couldn't say his name.

Katara was shocked at the way his voice sounded. It was deep, and yet still had a kid inside of it as well. She couldn't believe that his name was Kuzon, especially after _learning_that he and Aang used be best friend once upon a time. _"What a coincidence." _she thought to herself, as she continued to stare up at him. She quickly put away thoughts of Aang, as she had practiced, and shook his hand. They were rough against her soft skin, but it sent goose bumps up her arm.

"I'm, Katara." She finally said after waiting so long to answer his question, and still holding his hand, "Umm, why did you go near Appa?" the Waterbender asked, pointing back with her left thumb.

Aang let go of her hand, not wanting her to feel his pulse racing, "I-I've never seen a Bison up close before, and I have a natural curiosity." Then he gave her a shrug with a goofy smile, "Guess I went a little too close, because he started growling at me."

Katara knew that this was definitely not Aang, because Appa would be licking him all over. But at the same time, she still couldn't get the thought of this being him. "Yea. He doesn't always take well to strangers, but he's a big ball of loving fur." she said with a side smile.

Aang couldn't help but smile back at her, "I'm sure he is…maybe he just doesn't like me?"

Katara looked back at the Bison, and back at Kuzon, "He'll get used to you. It's not everyday he has guys like you coming by. He's great with kids though."

Aang put his hands in his pocket, and started rubbing Katara's necklace with his thumb, "I guess me and him will be seeing a lot of each other than. I'm still intrigued by him."

Again the Waterbender smiled, "Yes, he truly is." she said, and then the silence kicked in again. Usually, she didn't mind the silence, but it was different with a stranger…a stranger who looked so much like her lost Airbender.

The Monk turned sideways, and said, "I'm about to get some breakfast. You want to come?"

The Waterbender gave him a gentle grin, "I was just heading there actually. I'm sure the rest of the gang will be there too." she said, and they both started walking towards the dinning room.

Aang had to act like he didn't know what she was talking about when she mentioned his friends, and he asked, "So who is this gang?"

Katara looked up at a painting that was to her left, that had a Lion Turtle in it, and then said, "They are my friends, and _great _warriors. Some are benders, while others are 'ordinary' as my brother would put it."

The Airbender laughed through his nose, "That is quite a gang. Who are all of the benders?"

"Well there is Fire Lord Zuko, who you obviously know, a blind Earthbender named Toph, me as a Waterbender, and then another Waterbender named Higen." she said, and looked up at Kuzon, who was now clenching his jaw, and making the muscles stand out on his cheeks.

It was a good thing Aang kept his hands in his pocket, because he was squeezing them so hard that the blood circulation stopped flowing. The Monk closed his eyes and sighed, and tried to change to another question, "A blind Earthbender, huh? Doesn't sound like a good advantage to me?"

Katara could tell that this guy was struggling with something, but she decided to ignore it, "Don't say that to Toph. She may be blind, but she is the greatest Earthbender you will ever see. Did you know she invented Metalbending?"

The gray eyed boy gave her a shocking, surprised look, "No way! She's the one Earthbenders have been talking about!"

The blue eyed girl gave him a strange look, "How do you know what the Earthbenders have said?"

Aang's eyes got big at his stupid answer. He hated lying to her, and the Monks had taught him to never do this, but he desperately needed to. "When the Fire Nation took over Omashu, my families moved over there, and we began our new life. I heard a lot of rumors of an Earthbender doing this, but I never knew it was the blind girl?"

By about this time they had at long last reached the dinning hall, and everyone was chowing down. To the Monks left, there was Toph, Tao, Suki, Sokka, and then to his right Iroh, Mai, Zuko, a guy he guessed was Higen, and one more empty cushion for Katara. Everyone looked the same to Aang, and then again some of them had grown taller too, and became very pretty.

Katara decided to introduce the man next to her, "Kuzon, this is Toph, Tao, Suki, Sokka, Iroh, Mai, Zuko, and Higen. Gang, this is Kuzon."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked at Kuzon, as if they were seeing a ghost. Sokka's mouth hanging open, as his chewed up food began coming out of it. Aang didn't like this attention, and decided to bow to them in the Fire Nations way. "It's an honor to meet you all." he managed to say.

Higen stood up, and held his hand out to Aang. Higen was a little bit shorter than he was, he had blue eyes as well, with his black hair up in a wolf tail, like Sokka's, and wore Water clothes as well. He was a good looking fellow, who seemed…nice.

The Monk grabbed his arm and shook it, "Kuzon. Nice to meet you." he said, as he tried to control himself.

Higen let go of Kuzon arm, while the new member of the group put his left arm on Katara's shoulder. Aang caught the redness in her cheeks, but they were not out of love, but embarrassment almost. Then Higen pecked Katara on the lips, which made Aang really mad.

The blue eyed girl wrapped her arm around his hip and said, "Kuzon this is…, umm, this-this is…" she stuttered. She didn't know why it was so hard for her to say that Higen was her boyfriend, but she just couldn't say it when she saw the look in his eyes after Higen kissed her.

Higen waited for a second and then finished for her; "I'm her boyfriend." he smiled at Aang. And then he guided Katara back to her seat, and sat next to her on the right.

The Monk sat on the floor at the head of the table, next to Toph and Katara. He looked up at Zuko, who was trying to figure out what happened, but Aang shook his head at him. The table was silent, as they continued to eat. Then one of the server girls came by and asked for what he wanted to eat.

Aang thought about this, and decided to get something that Katara would hopefully recognize. "I'll have a big bowl of fruit salad, two loafs of bread with honey oozing out of them, and fried cinnamon puffs with strawberries on the inside, and a nice cool cup of watermelon juice please." The young girl smiled, and bowed to him. The Monk looked over at Katara from the corner of his eye and saw the look on her face, it was a face of remembrance. Because that was exactly what she had made for him, the morning when they went to the Northern Air Temple two days before his birthday. But then, he forgot that he couldn't be a vegetarian in front of her, so he added one last thing.

"Oh!" he yelled at the girl who was about to turn, "I'll also have some cowpig bacon as well please?" and again the girl nodded as she continued on her way. Once Aang said the bacon part, everyone went back to eating. Toph, however, kept starring at Katara, and probably trying to listen to his heat beat.

"_Why can't I feel his heart?"_Toph asked herself. She had never once had this problem with anyone. Everyone has a heart…it was like he was too light for her to feel vibrations.

"So tell me Kuzon," Tao began, "how do you know Zuko?" he asked as he put another bite of green egg in his mouth.

Aang looked at Zuko, and didn't know what to say. Zuko's eyes got bit too, so the Monk continued to make it up. "I met Zuko before he was banished, and we kind of became friends. And then when I heard he was Fire Lord, I just had to come see him." The Monk looked at Toph, who was still _seemed_to be starring at Katara, and then she went back to eating her rice.

This time Mai spoke up, "I don't seem to remember you mentioning him Zuko?" she said with no curiosity at all.

Zuko clenched his jaw at his wife, as everyone else waited for an answer. Zuko however was not good at lying around Toph, "Guess it kind of slipped my mind when I was banished. _Kuzon_ and I met just a few months before everything happened, and he just came back last night to see me."

"_Strange."_Toph thought again, _"Part of him is lying, while the other is the truth…"_

"So he's the one that came over in the middle of the night?" she asked with yawn.

Aang decided to step in, "Yea, and I'm really sorry about that, but a tragedy happened to someone I cared about, and he ended up passing away. I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I came back here. Hoping he would remember me."

The Waterbender was heartbroken at this, "I'm so sorry Kuzon." she said with much sympathy in her voice. And then her hand went up to her Mothers necklace, as if making sure it was still there.

The Monk shrugged sadly, "Its okay. He taught me all he could in the life that he had with me. He was a good man." he said referring to Guru Pathik.

By about this time Aang's food came out, fresh and hot on the tray. He started eating with much indulgence, but it was _nothing_compared to Katara's breakfast. The Airbender had only eaten a few hours ago, but it seemed a lot longer than that to him.

"You're a Master swordsman too Kuzon?" Sokka asked with a mouthful of food in his mouth.

The Airbender he swallowed a mixture of fruit in his mouth, and laughed a little, which made Katara look at him again. "I'm not a _Master_, but I was taught a while back how to handle a blade."

"Great!" said Toph suddenly, "Now he can actually beat someone, who can't bend!"

Sokka got mad as always, but Suki calmed him down. "Actually, umm Tough." he said on purpose, to throw them off.

"It's _Toph_." Tao said a little aggravated.

Aang smiled apologetically, "Sorry, Toph. But I am actually a Firebender. I may not be the absolute best, but Zuko and I seemed to be at neck and neck when we were kids."

Iroh spoke up for the first time, "A lot can happen in four years. He has indeed come a long way from what he used to be."

The Monk nodded, "Your right, but I'm sure I can catch up." he said towards Zuko, who continued to put food in his mouth and not say a word. They all proceeded to eating the rest of their breakfast, asking 'Kuzon' many questions. It was tough for Aang, but he did pretty well at keeping up with everything that was thrown his way. After finally finishing his vegetarian meal, he looked at the disgusting cowpig bacon, and when no one was looking at him, he threw the bacon under the low table, airbending it quietly to the floor.

Then out of nowhere Momo flew through the opened windows, and slammed into Aang's head, hugging him. The Monk fell to the floor, using his kid laugh as the little Lemur began licking all over his face.

Katara laughed a little too, which surprised everyone. They all listened to her, and then everyone else joined in. The Waterbender _loved_Kuzon's laugh, because it reminded her _so_much of the twelve year Airbender she once knew.

"Hey little guy!" Aang said as he continued to laugh, and pet him. It was so good to see that Momo hadn't changed at all. He was still the loving little Lemur he left. Then Momo stopped licking when he smelt the food, and jumped onto the table where Aang's tray was, and began licking the leftovers of his bowl.

The dark skinned girl reached over and grabbed Momo, "No Momo, you know better than that." she said in a motherly tone. And then she gave the Lemur a bowl or purple berries that he ate with much joy.

The Avatar got up, and wiped his face off as looked back at the little Lemur. He reached over and started petting him, without realizing how close his hand was to Katara's arm. Aang looked up, and locked eyes with Katara. Those blue eyes of hers sucked out every amount of fear, pain, and anger that was in him, to only leave him breathless. Suddenly his cheeks began to redden, and he pulled back quickly, looking away, while Katara did the same.

Everyone seemed to watching his every move, and it was really making him nervous. So he decided to lighten up the mood, "So Sokka, you going to help train me with the sword or not?"

Instantly, Sokka looked up at him and said, "You sure you're up for this Firebender? I just so happen to be the best warrior in my village."

"With a population of one person." Toph said with a sense of humor, which made Tao snicker at the little joke, as did everyone else.

Aang smiled and drank the rest of his watermelon juice, "I'd still like to learn what I can from a Master, if you don't mind?" the Monk said luring him in to take the bait.

Sokka looked at Suki, who smiled and nodded at him. The pony tail guy smiled and kissed her on the lips, and turned back to Kuzon, "We'll start on a beginners level, Sport."

Toph again got sarcastic, "I'm pretty sure that that's the only level _you've_ mastered, Mr. Boomerang!"

Sokka was ready to pulverize Toph for that remark; he had come a long way from being just an ordinary swordsman. He had been practicing for hour's everyday, trying to find balance with his sword. Then he saw Kuzon stand up, with only smiled on his face.

"Then lets go!" the Airbender said. And they both ran out the door swords in hand, and ready to fight. Everyone else followed them too, with Katara and Higen as the last ones. Higen put his arm around Katara and began walking her out, but before they left, the Waterbender looked down at Kuzon's plate, and found no bacon on the plate. The girl sighed again, and walked out to see the fight, with her brother and Kuzon.

Sokka was very impressed with Kuzon's way of the sword, as they continued to duel each other. All of his moves were flawless, and graceful, as if he was one with the sword almost. But more than anything, he loved the white sword that he had, and wished he had 'Space Sword' with him now. He knew no other weapon could match to it, but then again, Kuzon's might actually do the job.

The pony tailed guy could see that the Firebender was getting tired, and he used it to his advantage. They were jumping around everywhere, and swinging left and right of each other. For the entire hour, they were neck and until Sokka hit the sword out of Kuzon's hand. The pearl sword went flying to Aang's left, where he heard it, but didn't look away from his friend.

They were both breathing hard, and sweating like crazy. Sokka was about to win and decided to ask anyways, "Give up?"

Aang got in his stance, and gave him a small smile, "No way!"

Sokka went charging at him, like he was about to stab him, and the Monk ran towards the wall behind him, that wasn't far at all. When he got to the wall, with Sokka inches away, Aang ran up the wall in three steps, and saw the look on Sokka's face when he jumped off the stone wall and landing on his shoulders. The Airbender wrapped his legs around Sokka's back, squeezed his legs around his back, and with all of his weight, Aang threw his himself back, landing on his hands, and throwing Sokka with his leg strength.

"Ah!" Sokka screamed in the air, and landing in the white water fountain, that had red fish swimming around in it. As soon as Aang was on his feet, he dashed towards his sword, sliding into dirt, and grabbing it as he got up. When Sokka came up for air, he unfortunately had a fish wiggling in his mouth. He immediately spat it out in disgust, and then felt a hot shiny sword under his neck.

The boomerang guy looked at smiling Firebender and said regretfully, "I yield Kuzon."

Aang laughed a little, put his sword back in his sheath, and held his hand out for Sokka to grab. As much as a sore loser as Sokka was, he accepted the helpful hand that pulled him out of the water. The Avatar also grabbed Sokka's sword in the water, and handed it to him with a smile.

"You got lucky Fire Boy." Sokka said, and pointed his wet finger at him, "Next time, you're mine." Aang patted him on the shoulder with grin, and then another fish popped out of his shirt, which made the Monk giggle quietly. Seeing that Sokka's Karma still wasn't all that great to him.

Then everyone walked over towards the two duelers, and praised them both for a wonderful entertainment. Suki gave Sokka a kiss on the cheek, telling him what a great Master he was going to be. The Boomerang guy grinned, as he realized that he was luckiest man, loser or winner, because he was engaged to the girl in his arms.

"Wow," Toph said sarcastically, "didn't think Flamio here could beat you at your own game Sokka!"

Now it was Sokka's turn to get defensive, "Sneaky wall climbing attacks don't count!" he yelled, as his face started to turn red with anger.

But everyone laughed at him anyways. Tao shook Aang's hand, telling him he did a great job, and he hoped to see _many_more sword fights. Toph came up and punched Aang hard, "Not bad for a newbie. Let's see how well you do against an Earthbender!" and then she walked off with Tao. Sokka and Suki had already left, as they continued making out and walking at the same time. Which proved to be quite difficult to do, as he watched them both ran into things, and finally disappeared. The Airbender was happy to see them together like that and wished he could have that too.

The Monk looked over at Katara, and could see that they were the only two left standing in the courtyard now, which made him cheerful. Aang looked around to make sure, and could only see the dirt that was still flying around from their duel. The Airbender realized how dirty he must look right now, but the Waterbender didn't seem to care at all. Katara looked a little nervous as she looked at him, and began playing with her hair that was hanging off of her right shoulder. He smiled at her, and went back to the fountain, where he splashed water on his face, trying to wipe the dirt off, while enjoying coolness of water that roll down into his clothes, and hair. Aang then took off his sword, and sat on the edge of the fountain, letting the water drip off of his face, and onto the sheath that laid across his thighs.

"You know," Katara said breaking the silence as she started walking toward him, "my brother will want rematches until he wins. You up for that challenge?"

Aang kind of laughed, and spit salty water out of his mouth, "I guess I am. You should know that your brother is a great fighter, and he's definitely not a quitter." he smiled up at her, "I admire that about him." The Monk meant what he said, but wished things were different.

The Waterbender just couldn't get over the fact that Kuzon could be Aang's twin, if he did have one. In so _many_ways they were the exact same, but he didn't have the tattoos to show. "Yea." she said, and sat next to Kuzon, giving them space between each other, "He's a good brother."

The Airbender's pulse was racing now, as they sat just a few feet away. He wanted nothing more than to tell her that he was back, but after seeing her with Higen, it just didn't seem right for him to come back into her life…but was he already doing it with a different name? Aang wished Guru Pathik was here to help him, he just felt so lost without him.

"Kuzon?" Katara asked for the third time.

"Huh-what?" he asked confused.

"I said we are all heading to the water that is below the mountain, do you want to come? I mean it's a pretty good walk, but we all figured we could have some more fun before the war meeting tomorrow." She said, as her imagination began to visualize Kuzon without a shirt on, and again, she blushed. Katara was happy he didn't see this, as he gazed at his black sheath.

Aang desperately wanted to, but the mixture that the Guru made for him, didn't mix well with water. And as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. "I wish I could, but I'm pretty exhausted right now, and I think I need some sleep. You guys have fun."

This made the dark skinned girl a little sad, and she didn't know why. She didn't even know this guy, but when she was around him, she got those same butterflies when she was free falling with Aang. It was almost as if a ghost of him was sent there to torture her, because she was with Higen. Her father, Chief Hakoda, had always liked Higen, but he knew her heart still belonged to someone else. He always told her that as much as he wanted her to be with someone, he wanted her to be happy. But 'happiness' was no longer apart of her life…except around Kuzon now.

She looked back into Kuzon's gray eyes, and could see that he wasn't lying about being tired. The purple under his eyes had darkened more, and he seemed a little too tense when he was around her. "Okay, well you know where to find us if you change your mind." Katara said, hoping that he would, and she gave him a warm smile, as she walked off.

Aang watched her disappear into the palace, and restrained himself from running after the intoxicating woman of his dreams. This was becoming far more difficult with the lies he was creating, and he didn't like this sense of life. She had obviously moved on, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Even if he did tell her, she would hate him _more_than the way Zuko reacted when he came back. The Monk wished he could bend time back, but in the end he would have still left to protect the ones he loved.

OooooOooooOoooo

The gang was having a blast at the beach near the mountain, even though it was a long way to get down the mountain, it was totally worth it. And it was nice to see Zuko and Mai get some sun, or sort of. Those two just stayed under an umbrella and kept making out with each other, not caring about who was watching. Sokka and Higen were wrestling in the water, while Tao and Toph were having competitions in sand castles, which Toph seemed to always win being a Sandbender now. Tao was mad that he wouldn't win, and instead he would tell her what a beautiful Sandbender she was, which made her always get pink cheeks.

Suki and Katara were both drying up their fun in the water, and getting their tan going. She and Suki had actually become pretty close to each other, since she came back from Kyoshi Island. The Kyoshi Warrior had become like a sister to her, and they talked about everything. Sometimes it was good, and other times, it was hard because she knew who she was thinking about.

Suki looked over at Katara who didn't really seem to be paying attention to anything in particular, but kept looking around like she was hoping for someone to pop up. Even though she wouldn't confess it upfront, she could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking of a certain Firebender. She started to notice a change in the dark skinned girl, and could see that he was already having an effect on her. Kuzon was literally the spitting image of Aang, but he was not the Airbender that they all missed.

"It's a pity Kuzon couldn't have showed up." Suki said, with her eyes closed and feeling the rays of the sun on her face, "I think he could have really enjoyed himself."

Katara looked over at Suki, "Yea, it would have been nice to get to know his fun side." she said.

Suki peeked over at the Waterbender, and saw her cheeks redden a little, and knew she meant something else by it. "You know, for a Firebender, he's pretty cute if you ask me."

The dark skinned girl smiled, "Actually he is." she said out loud. He was more than cute though, he was dazzling. The whole time at the table, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him, and it only made things worse when Higen was around. He was a nice guy, and good looking, but he was _nothing_when compared to Kuzon. Her mind had been trying to put images together as she began to wonder what he would look like with his shirt off again, and then all of the heat in her body rushed up to her face.

Suki saw this, and proclaimed quietly with a smile, "You like him don't you?"

"What?" Katara screamed automatically at Suki, and couldn't believe she would say that. "No, I don't even know him. And besides, I'm with Higen now!"

The short auburn hair girl gave her a halfhearted smile, "You can be with someone, and still like, or even love someone else." she said trying to get her point across. Suki knew from the beginning that she and Higen wouldn't last long, because no one could _ever_beat out Aang.

Katara's jaws tightened, knowing that what she said was true. Even though she was with Higen, she _already _liked Kuzon after spending just a few hours with him, but she still loved Aang. It sounded so stupid when she put it in that order and she wondered if she did even have something for Higen? Yes, he was a good friend to her when she needed a shoulder to cry on and was such a sweet guy, but was it enough to be with him?

When she went back to her home village, there ended up being a lot more young men there than the last time she was there. They were constantly asking her to go out with them, asking her hand in marriage, and they didn't stop. When she met Higen, he was a bit shy, but he was very nice to her, and when he asked if they could be together, she said yes. Now that she truly pondered about it, why did she say yes?

The Waterbender sighed, "It doesn't matter. Higen is a nice guy."

"But do you even like him?" she asked straight off.

Katara was silent, as she thought about it. There was no answer that came into her head, but a big blank. Luckily, Sokka timing was perfect as always. Higen was told by Sokka to throw water at everyone, which made everyone mad.

Sokka yelled at the top of his lungs, "Couples fight!" and ran to Suki as fast as he could, but ended up get swallowed by water from Higen bending a wave over him.

The Waterbender was happy to separate from Suki, and teamed up with Higen as they fought against each other. They all fought back at each other with their fighting and bending skills, until they were too tired bend or fight anymore. It was a fun day.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang was starring up at the moon again, like he always did every night. The gang had been back for a few hours, and decided to eat, but he really wasn't that hungry. He was sitting on the railing, with one leg stretched out, and the other up while his arm rested on knee. His head leaned against the stone column, with a piece of paper in his hand. He had been up there for a while, just listening rock hoppers down below. He was exhausted from the day, especially after Katara left; he had decided to play Hide and Explode with some kids from the Fire Nation School, which his team ended up winning. He loved being a little kid, and it helped him think that he was just a normal person with no problems.

The Monk looked back down at the Guru's letter, and read it all over again. The paper was so creased, that the words were beginning to fade, but he had every word memorized already. To him, it was just reassurance that everything he did, wasn't for nothing. He also hoped to find something else in the letter that the Guru Pathik left for him, but he never found it. Aang hadn't even noticed that he was being watched, until a certain Waterbender came up to him, with a tray of food.

As soon Aang saw her, she noticed that he put some sort of paper in his pocket as quickly as he could. But she didn't seem to think anything of it at the time, and just decided to put the food near his feet.

Aang gave her a warm smile, "Thanks Katara." he said looking down at the mixture of veggies and meat near his feet. "You didn't have to do this you know?" he said rolling off the edge, and picked up the bowl of noodles with spices in it.

Katara didn't know why she did this for him, but more than anything, she really wanted to see Kuzon again. "It's not a big deal. I just figured you might be a little hungry, especially since you decided not to sleep." she said, looking down at his dirty clothes, and even a little bit of dirt on his breathtaking face.

The Airbender looked at her weirdly, and then looked down to where her eyes were examining. He saw all of the dirt and mud that was on his clothes. Aang had completely forgotten to change, but it was late and the last person he expected to see was Katara.

"There's a perfectly good reason why I'm…" the gray eyed boy said as he looked at his clothes, "like this."

"Really?" Katara said, trying to hold back her smile as she folded her arms, "I'd love to hear it then."

"Yea…you see," Aang began quickly, giving her a dopey smile, "I decided to take a walk towards the beach but, but I ended up falling into some mud."

The Waterbender gave him a funny look, "Mmhmm, really? And how did parts of your clothes get burned then?" she said trying not to laugh, as she saw the boy struggling to tell her this lie.

"Umm, my clothes…they were burned because I had a…" Aang knew this was the worst lie in the history of lies, but he could tell that she was playing along with him, "I had to stop a dragon from terrorizing the town. I mean I just couldn't go back to the house and change out of my clothes, so I ended up getting burned to a crisp. Luckily I saved the town, but my clothes weren't."

Katara saw Kuzon smiling, and she couldn't help but smile back, "You know, dragon have been extinct." But Katara knew that they really weren't, "You are the worst liar ever Kuzon!"

Aang laughed, and agreed with her. He then set the bowl of noodles back on the tray, and put his arm on the edge, and leaned forward, "Fine. I went to go play hide and explode with some kids. I know that may seem a little childish, but I like being a kid sometimes." he said truthfully.

The dark skinned girl laughed quietly, as she joined him, giving them a small amount of space this time between them, "See? That wasn't so hard to say now was it?" she said sarcastically while looking at him.

Kuzon looked upon the Goddess and said shyly, "Actually it kind of was. I feel embarrassed to tell you that I still play around like a little kid."

Again, she smirked at him, "It's not that bad for someone of your age to do that every once in a while."

Aang raised an eyebrow at her, "How old do you think I am?"

Katara shrugged, "My guess is sixteen or even seventeen?" And when she said those numbers, she saw a twinkle in his eyes, like she just gave him an amazing compliment.

The Airbender laughed, "I'm flattered that you think I'm that _old_, but I'm…" And then he stopped himself. Should he actually tell her the truth of how old he was, especially after seeing the way she kept looking at him, like she was trying to figure something out? But he decided against lying to her, and said, "I'm actually only fourteen."

When Katara heard that number, her eyes got huge. _"He's fourteen?"_she thought to herself. There was absolutely no way he was that age! She had seen plenty of fourteen year old's at her village, who kept hitting on her, and Kuzon didn't look anywhere _near _that age. He is the same age as Aang would be today, and again, she was becoming more curious at this mysterious Firebender, and it was driving her crazy. This seemed to be more than just coincidence that he looked like Aang, had his laugh, his name is Kuzon, stormy gray eyes, and he is fourteen. It just didn't make any sense how this couldn't be HIM! But like she had figured out when she first met him, he didn't have the tattoos, but he did have a lot of scars similar to Aang's?

The Monk could tell that her mind was processing everything that she had learned today, and he wondered if she already knew it was him. "You look a little surprised Katara, are you okay?

"What?" she said.

Aang laughed through his nose, "Great, now I feel really do feel embarrassed! I wish that I just went along with the age you thought I was." he said, trying help bring her out of her whirl winded mind. The Monk raised himself off his arms, and used his hands to hold him up now.

"No!" Katara yelled a little more than necessary, "I'm just, _shocked_that your only fourteen. You act more mature than my brother, and that's why I kind of assumed it." The Waterbender got off of her arms too, and leaned her back spine against the railing as she looked down at Kuzon. She loved his long dark hair, and how it moved against the wind. Even the old headband seemed to make him look even more majestic to her.

Aang grinned, "Tell me then, would it have given me better odds if I wanted to be with you?" he asked, and then realized his mistake.

Suddenly, Katara's cheeks turned red, and she turned away from his face. She couldn't believe he just said that, and it only made the butterflies in her stomach worsen. He may only be fourteen, but he was very mature and apparently pretty bold too.

The Avatar wished that he hadn't said that, especially now that she was with someone else. "I'm sorry" he said, looking at the floor between his arms, and then he looked back up at her, as she had already turned her head back at him, "I didn't mean to say that. Sometimes I say things I shouldn't, and I know you have a boyfriend. I'm really sorry." Which he meant, but at the same time, he didn't. Aang tried to give her the sad puppy eyes he used to give her, and it put a smile on her face.

"That doesn't work on me anymore Kuzon, but I'll forgive you. Higen and I…umm," she began, and gave him a small fake laugh, "we are together, but then again I'm not sure?" Katara didn't know why she was telling this to him, but it was so easy for her to talk to him. Maybe it was just because he looked like Aang?

"Well, for what it's worth," he said, making it as sincere as possible, "he's a very lucky man. And he seems to really like you too." Aang gripped onto the stoned rail, and made them crack under his hands, but not loud enough for Katara to hear.

The Waterbender smiled, "Thanks Kuzon." She could tell that he meant it, but at the same time he didn't. But then again, maybe she wasn't good at reading people like she thought she was, so Katara just brushed off that last thought she had.

Aang loved the way she looked under the moon light. It was part of her culture, and it only made her skin look so flawless. Her eyes looked like the color of his tattoos, instead of the dark blue ocean, and her long brown hair was even darker than ever. Words just couldn't conjure up the way she looked to him.

"Well I better get going, it's getting late, and Higen will be looking for me soon." She finally said, and pushed off the stone railing by leaning her body weight forward. Kuzon followed her motion, and got off of the edge. When he removed his hands, he could see the cracks in the stones, which his hands caused. They walked across his room, and to his door. She slid it open, and was about to close it, but Aang stopped the sliding door.

He then looked deep into those blue eyes of the Waterbender, and then he became speechless all of the sudden, and Katara couldn't stop looking at him either. It was like he was _allowing_ her to see deep into his soul, which made her face inch closer to his.

The blue eyed girl continued to stare at him, and started store every movement his face would make as he looked at her in an amazing way. She saw his jaw clenched as he gulped quietly, "Katara" he breathed warmly on her face that sent chills up her spine, and inching closer to her face. "I…" he began, and she waited to hear what he wanted to say, as he left her hanging at his one lettered sentence.

Aang realized how close they were, and leaned back to give them both some breathing room. He sighed, saying "Goodnight." and then slid the door shut.

Katara sighed in relief too, as he shut the door. But she wasn't sure if it was relief of them not kissing, or that she wished that they had. "Goodnight." she finally said loud enough for only him to hear, and started walking back to the gang, in a daze.

When Aang could no longer hear the footsteps, he went to the wall, and started banging his head. _"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"_he thought as he continued to bang his head. Finally after a few minutes, he placed his forehead back on cold stone wall looking down, and leaned against it. His hands reached into his pocket, and pulled out Katara's necklace. He stared at the inscription, _"Love is brightest in the dark"_ and rubbed the engraving with his thumb, feeling the dip in every word that was there on the clear sphere element.

"This is going to be more difficult than I thought." he said out loud to himself painfully, as he thought of all that he had learned about Katara today. He just didn't know what to do, even though his heart wanted to tell her the truth, but his mind told him it wasn't a good idea since she was with Higen now. It was all so confusing to him, and he just wished someone could tell him what to do in a situation like this. Then a silent tear ran down his face, landing on the necklace he held in his left palm.

**So Aang is going to stay a secret it seems like, or at least for now he will. It will be interesting to see how much longer he can hold out without one of his friends finding out about it somehow, or learning it from Zuko. I chose Kuzon's name, because Aang wanted a name he could relate to, just like he did at the school. And just to be clear, Higen is NOT the same guy as Hide from the Fire Nation, just in case you were confused. Higen was never mentioned in the show, so he's just made up. **

**So I know this probably wasn't the Kataang you wanted, but it was still fun writing if for you guys.**

**Okay, now that you have read it, please take a second, and review me, or ask questions. I ALWAYS read them! I hope to have another chapter up by Monday or Tuesday. Peace and Love Avatar Fans!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I got you up another chapter, hope you enjoy it. Also, just found out that Ive been spelling Tao wrong the entire time. Its actually (Teo), but there is a Tao in the NEW Avatar series that is suppose to come out in 2011, so I apologize for using the wrong spelling of the name. Sorry ahead also for MORE misspelled words and grammar. I don't own Avatar. **

Before anyone else woke up, Zuko decided to go pay 'Kuzon' a little visit, especially since Aang decided to change his name, and then bring him into it all of the sudden. He hated lying to his wife, and friends, and it wasn't something that he wanted to keep doing while Aang was here. The Fire Lord knew that eventually everyone else would find out, and it would just end up being a _huge_disaster if he kept this up. Zuko looked around to make sure that no one had followed him, and then he slid the door open, and closed it just as fast.

Zuko looked around, and didn't see Aang anywhere in his room, or the balcony. The bed was still made up, and his stuff were no where to be seen. He then left the room, and decided to check outside, since that always seemed to be where he was if he wasn't in the room. The Fire Lord walked out the back, to where Appa would sleep, and found the young man sleeping on its furry right leg. He continued walking towards him, Aang's eyes popped open, and he sat up. The Firebender looked around one last time, to make sure no one was around, and then he began.

"Guess you don't sleep that much, huh?" Zuko asked, not really caring, but figured he could at least give him a small talking sentence.

Aang shook his head, "It's been a _very_ long time since I've had a descent night's sleep. I can only manage a few hours every night, and then wake up."

Zuko nodded, understanding, now, why he had those bags under his eyes. Zuko decided to get right to the point, now that they had their small talk. "Why the hell did you change your name Aang? You know everyone believes that you look like…well, yourself, and yet your protesting that your NOT?"

The Monk got off of Appa's white furry leg, and stretched himself out. He exhaled after holding his breath while he extended his limbs out and said, "I don't know why I did it…but I just couldn't interfere with Katara's new life. As much as I want to, I can't. So, when she saw me out here with Appa, I panicked, and changed my name. I know I should have warned you, but there was just no time!"

"Aang, or Kuzon," he said correcting himself, "you know that none of us are able to lie when Toph is around. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew something was wrong! Even Mai is getting curious, and when she becomes like that, I can't ever lie to her! She has a way of bringing the truth out of me!"

"I know, I know!" the Airbender yelled, putting his hands on his hips, and sighed. "You don't get it Zuko. After being gone for a year and half, the only person I thought about _constantly_was Katara, and then I come back, and she has moved on! When I saw the way you reacted to me when I first came back, I saw so much anger and pain in you. I didn't want her to go through that again."

"But do you not understand that you _are_interfering with her life, but just under a different name? I've seen the way she looks at you, and let me tell you 'Kuzon' she is already falling for you!" Zuko said, trying to get his point across, "My Uncle always told me that I never think things through, and this, well this is stupid Aang!"

The Monk sat back down on Appa's leg, and ran his fingers through his hair, while looking down at the ground. "I know this is stupid, but I just need some time to think of something, okay?" Aang said, not taking his eyes off of the soft green grass.

Zuko crossed his arms, and yelled, "To think of what? How you are going to run away, and forget about us again?"

This set Aang off. He got up, and grabbed Zuko's silk robes, "I _NEVER_ wanted to run! Can you not get that through your head! I had no choice!"

For the first time in his life, the Fire Lord was scared of the young man before him. He knew it would get the Avatar mad, but he didn't mean for it to come out like the way it did. And for a split second, he saw the same fury in Aang's eyes that were the same as his father's, when he decided to teach him a _lesson_.

The Monk blinked at what he just did, and released his friend. He backed away from him, and back onto the Bison's leg, and continued to breathe through his mouth. Luckily, the demon inside of him, only tampered with his emotions for a second, but he hated the way he reacted. Aang knew that he hurt them all deeply, and they were _all_ going to hold it against him for a very long time.

"I'm sorry Zuko." Aang finally said, and looked back up at him, "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to leave this time. There is no one left to help me now."

The Firebender tightened his jaws, and said, "Whatever you do Kuzon, you should know that I'll always be by your side. And I know the others will too…you're not alone. Just give me a heads up, when you decided to mention me in your little stories." Then Zuko gave him a small smile.

Aang gave him one back, "Then you should know, that you have just asked me to join you in this war meeting today." he said, and stood up, keeping his distance from the Fire Lord.

Zuko raised an eyebrow, "Really? Well, for what reason would I want to do this?"

"Zuko, I need to know what is going on, I need to know what has been happening while I've been gone. I'm the Avatar, and it's my duty to protect you all…now that I am back. Plus, I'm a young Firebender, who was just asked to help assist the Fire Lord." Aang said, telling him the lie ahead of time.

Zuko thought about it, and said, "It would be so much easier if you were just Avatar Aang."

The Monk nodded, "I know, but like I said, just give me some time to think of something. I _promise_to tell the others when the time is right, but for now, I'm your long lost friend Kuzon." he said smiling.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Yea, a long lost friend who just happens to be the Avatar." he said with sarcasm, and then he sighed, "If you're going to act the part then you need to look the part too. I'll get you some armor, and some more clothes as well. Which means you need to wear your hair up too, just like this." he said pointing up at his own ponytail.

Aang nodded, hating the idea of having his hair up and wearing armor. It seemed like captivity for him almost.

OooooOooooOoooo

The Monk did as he was told, and put on Zuko's Prince Outfit, with black and gold armor on top. He put his hair up, and made sure to put the cream on his neck, forehead, and his hands to hide the visible tattoos. He bent the water out of the bowl next to him, to make a mirror, and examined himself to make sure everything was covered up. When he was satisfied, he bent it back, and walked out the door.

Aang finally caught up with Zuko, and bowed respectfully to him, just as the Fire Lord told him to do, and then he bowed to Fire Lady Mai. She looked him up and down, giving him a weird look, but she shrugged it off like she always did. They then walked to the back of the Palace, and saw a Blind Earthbender waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, and she then guided them to where Appa slept. The Monk wasn't sure where they were going, but he was getting a little bit anxious to see.

Toph then stopped, and got into her horse stance. She brought the ground up into a hill, and back down, sending dirt everywhere. When the dust storm cleared, there were stairs that lead down to the ground. They all walked down to it, and then Toph closed it off, leaving them in the dark. Suddenly Aang's right corner eye caught a red liquid that was pouring out from the walls, giving them some light. And then the Monk realized that this was where he went to, when the Invasion first started. He remembered that there were rooms that would keep the Fire Lord safe, while he waited out the Eclipse. There were a lot more turns than he remembered, but Toph guided them to it without any problem.

Soon, they came to the edge of a cliff, where underneath was a pool of hot burning lava. The Monk remembered this part very well, as he flew Toph and Sokka over it with his glider, and how Sokka screamed like a girl. Toph raised her hands high, and brought up the rocks from underneath the lava, making a pathway for them to cross unharmed. When they made it across, she put it back into the lava, without a hint of evidence showing that it was there. Finally, after minutes of walking, they came to some stairs that lead up into a giant gold sphere. The Earthbender walked up to the door, knocked once, then three, then once more. A rectangle then slid in the middle of the door, revealing dark eyes.

The man behind the door asked, "Who knocks at the gate?"

"One who can metalbend this door down if you don't open it!" Toph yelled at the man. She hated saying the _reason_ as to why she knocked; it seemed just so stupid for her.

"Umm…" he said stupidly, "that's not the answer?"

Zuko then put a hand on Toph's shoulder, and said, "One who has put the past behind him, and makes his own destiny."

The sliding eye door slid closed, and then the giant golden metal doors opened. Instantly, Aang was hit with cool air, and the smell of water inside. When they stepped in, they door shut behind them, and the Monk was amazed at the room. Stone barriers held up the golden ceiling above them, which also had torches on the giant barriers, giving them plenty of light to see. On the ceiling, hanged every Nation's flag, including The Order of the White Lotus, and the Air Nomads. To his right, there was a water fall that flowed out of the wall, and traveled in a circle around a big table that had the map of the four Nations on it. There were no guards, or soldiers anywhere to be seen, which surprised him a little bit.

They walked over the small bridge that was above the water, and walked onto the stone floor. Aang could tell that his gang must have done a lot of hard work to get this place the way it is. The first sets of chairs on his right were filled with Water Tribes; Katara who had Momo on her shoulder, Chief Hakoda, Sokka, and Higen who represented the Northern Tribe. The bottom right corner then had a set of chairs for the Earth Kingdom; Toph took her spot, along side Teo and Ba Sing Se's Earth King Kuei, who just recently returned from traveling the world, with his pet bear Bosco next to him. To the bottom left of the table was where Zuko, and Mai, seated themselves. Then the next corner of the table was sat by The Order of The White Lotus; King Bumi, Master Pakku, Master Jong-Jong, Master Piandao, and Dragon of the West, Iroh. After studying the room in astonishment, Aang then stood behind Zuko on his right, like he was told, and looked at all of the familiar faces around him. There was also one empty spot at the top of the table, between The White Lotus and the Water Tribes, with Airbending symbols carved on top of it.

Iroh spoke, as he stood up, "You all know why we have come here today. We have a situation of kidnappings, killings, and much rebellion against all of our Nations. What does the Water Tribes have to say about this?

Chief Hakoda stood up, "We have nothing to report as of right now. The South and North Pole have been doing their best to try and find information out, but none have succeeded. We are still getting people kidnapped as well; most of them are our best Waterbender's, but there is no sign of struggling between the kidnapper and our people." he said, and sat back down, disappointed that they had nothing else to report.

"Hmm," Iroh said, "What about the Earth Kingdom?"

King Kuei stood up, "Our Dai Li Agents have all disappeared as well, along with Long Feng, and we have had no more conclusion as to how or why people are still attacking us. But they always seem to disappear once the battles are over with, leaving absolutely no trace of them. My General's have done everything that they can, but we are fighting against people who are good at hiding" he said. The King pointed to a few spots to where they attacked, and then sat back down.

The room was silent for a little bit, and then Iroh turned to his nephew, "Fire Lord Zuko?"

The Firebender stayed seated as he spoke, placing his elbows on arms of the chair, and making his hands into one ball. "We have no more information, than any of the other nations here today. My people have done searches for the missing, but none have prevailed in it either. However, we did catch a man before he disappeared. But we didn't have time to interrogate him much before he died. He just kept apologizing, saying that he didn't mean to do it." Iroh nodded as he considered this information. It was the same progress as last month, and things were getting worse and worse. Someone wanted a war, but none knew who.

Iroh tried to help shine some light on this meeting, "The Order of the White Lotus has heard rumors of people leading this rebellion, but none are positive. We've heard the Rough Rhinos are with them, as well as a seemingly old woman, and the Yu Yan Archers from the Fire Nation."

"Wait," Katara yelled as her eyes got big, and stood up, "has anyone ever given a description of this old woman?"

Iroh looked at his other companions in the White Lotus, and all of them shook their heads. The General looked at her, like she knew something that he didn't and asked, "Is it possible you know who this is then?"

Sokka stood up with his sister, "It could very well likely be Hama. We haven't seen her since before the invasion on the Fire Nation. However, she hates the Fire Nation, so it's possibly not her."

Katara then spoke up again, "But, if we are missing Waterbender's, then it would explain why she is doing it. And it could also tell us why there seems to be no bit of a struggle on the missing!"

Aang remembered that evil old woman very well, because she changed who Katara was, making her doubt if she was still that same person. Bloodbending was something that Katara wasn't willing to teach Aang, because of what she did to a man; who she thought was the killer of her mother. It was a gift to have this ability, but at the same time it was a curse too for the Waterbender who may ever want revenge.

"What is it that she is capable of doing?" Master Pakku asked, leaning on his elbows, and looking at his young apprentice and his sister.

This time, Toph spoke, "She is able to Bloodbend people. It's like a puppet master pulling all of the strings, and controlling your every move." Katara hit her hand on the table, and sat back down, remembering that evil full moon night.

Iroh sighed loudly, and started rubbing his pointy gray goatee, "If she can do this, than its highly that that is how they get past all of your guards as well. We will need a full description of her, as well as how much she is capable of." he said, looking over at Katara. She nodded towards him, and wrote down everything for him.

"So what is it that you ask us to do then, now that there is some insight on this matter?" King Kuei asked.

Iroh bent over the table and shrugged, "A battle is coming, and soon. The best thing we can do, is being prepared, and hope that the Avatar will return soon." Iroh said, as he looked at all of the faces around the table. When he looked at Aang, he could tell in his eyes that he knew he was back, but wasn't going to say it out loud. Even though these were elderly Master's, they all seemed to know when they were in the presence of the Avatar. It was just like Master Piandao, Sokka's Master, had told him, that he was too old to face the Avatar.

For many more hours they discussed tactics, ideas, doubling the guards, what other rumors have been spreading, how many people have been disappearing, arguments of how to approach these problems, and even some rumors of the Avatar being seen in Ba Sing Se. When this was mentioned, Aang looked over at Katara to see her reaction, but she only put her head down, and closed her eyes for a second, and returned back to the matter at hand.

OooooOooooOoooo

When they exited out of the secret underground meeting, the sun was starting just barely setting down on the ground. They had been in their all day long, and they all looked exhausted and hungry. But many of them couldn't stay, because they were all needed back at their homes. Even Higen had to go back to the Northern Tribe too, in order to help with the investigations. Chief Hakoda told him that he would help get him there, and then travel back down to his own people as well. Aang was happy that Higen was about to leave, because it would give him time to spend more time with Katara, and see if she did truly care for him. All of the Water tribe members walked down the mountain, to say goodbye to everyone. Sokka and Hakoda gave each other an embrace, and then he went over to shake arms with Higen.

Katara reached up to her dad, and gave him a big hug. She loved her dad so much, and it was nice to have him around, especially when she went through her time of missing Aang. "Take care of yourself, Dad." she said in a loving way.

Chief Hakoda laughed, "I will. Watch each others back Katara, and I'll see you in another month at the next meeting." he said, giving her one more tight squeeze before releasing his daughter. He picked up his gear, and walked off to the ship, waiting for the last passenger. Katara went over towards Higen, and just stood there in front of him, not knowing what to say to him.

"I'll miss you." Higen said looking at Waterbender before him.

Katara gave him a warm smile, "Take care of yourself, Higen."

Higen grinned back, and was about to kiss Katara on the lips, but she turned, and he ended up catching her cheek. She then looked at her feet, and back up at him with an apologizing look.

Higen pulled her into a hug and said, "I'll send a messenger hawk to tell you what's going on." He released her, and looked at her one last time before he walked onto the ship with her father.

Sokka, and Katara both stayed at the dock, until they saw the ship disappeared. The Waterbender felt bad for what she did to Higen, but she kind of didn't like the idea of him doing that to her. He surprised her when he kissed her in front of Kuzon, and she knew that he wanted to prove something to the Firebender. But a kiss on the lips was something that she wasn't sure she was ready for, because of a certain Airbender that always clouded her mind.

Sokka and his sister walked back up the mountain, tired as ever and starving. When they smelt the food at the palace, they quickened their pace to get their. Everyone else had already eaten, and their seemed to be plenty leftovers for Sokka and Katara to have. After eating for a few minutes, she looked around, noticing that Kuzon was missing from the group. Once everyone was completely finished, Iroh got his sungi horn, and began playing some soft music. It was so soothing after a long day of so much stress and arguing, to be able to relax and let the sound of the horn melt away their problems.

Katara decided to go outside to get some fresh air, but she wasn't alone when she came to the stairs that led up to the Palace. She saw a young man sitting on the stairs, with his arms on his knees, and his head lying on his arms. Even form behind, she could tell that something was stressing him out. It could have easily been the meeting itself. Kuzon probably never knew anything about what was _really_ going on in the world around him, and she was sure he was shocked at what he learned today. Never once did he speak during the meeting, but he just stood, and took in everything.

The Waterbender sat next to him by the stairs, with a small amount of space between them. She could feel the heat of his body coursing through his blood, which sent her some cold chills. Kuzon didn't even seem to notice that she sat next to him, and he continued to look at the walls surrounding the Palace. He looked so sad, that it made her heart break for him. _"He must be taking this really hard."_ she thought to herself.

The Waterbender continued to look at the left side of his face, gazing at his strong bone line, and the little scar on his cheek. Even with his hair up, he still looked so amazing to her. Finally, the gray eyes with purple bags underneath them, moved to look at her. He gave her a small smile, got out of his bending position, and leaned back on his elbows. They both sat their silently, not wanting to disturb the quiet world.

Minutes passed by, until Aang made the first move, and said, "You know, the one thing I like about you Katara?" he asked rhetorically, "You don't seem to mind the silence. It's very rare to find that kind of trait in a person."

The Waterbender gave him a cheerful smile, "Sometimes it just good to just listen to nothing, when you hear about what's going on in the world." she said, trying to hint at why she remained quiet for him.

The Monk gulped, "It's crazy when you see what the world has come to. I've been out of the loop for so long, that I don't know what has happened out there. All of those kidnappings of great Bender's, a rebellion forming against Nations that want peace, it just doesn't make any sense to me." he said, with much shame. The Airbender hanged his head back, and sighed as he looked up at the red roof over his head. Aang wondered if he had been here, during this rebellion, could he have possibly prevented this from ever happening?

Katara could see that Kuzon was taking this a lot harder than most of them had, and it was almost as if he was carrying the _guilt_of the world, as well as what has happened in the past year. He seemed to really care about the well being of the world, and maybe even the universe. Everything that Kuzon did, or acted, made her think of the tattooed Avatar. She could see that he was a gentle spirit, who cares for people, and showing his love to them. But at the same time, she could feel a dark side to him, as if he were two different people.

Katara place her hand on his Fire Nation's armor, feeling his body tense up underneath when he looked up at her. "It's crazy how much our Nations can be in so much chaos, and yet when you live somewhere for so long, not knowing anything about the outside world, you only see evil." Even she remembered the first time she left her village, and knew the world was in darkness with the Fire Nation, but never knew that people were going through much harder times than she was.

Aang's eyes followed her hand, all the way up to her shoulders, until he got to her eyes. And then she said something, that he would never forget, "But there is still so much love in this world Kuzon. And the best thing we can do, is show it to those who are in need of hope."

The Avatar then gave her the biggest smile he could muster up. It had been so long since Katara had given him some kind of hope, and wisdom. When he was twelve, she was always the person to depend upon when all else had gone badly wrong. He specifically remembered back when Appa was taken, and how angry he became at the Sandbender's, causing him to go into the Avatar state. Katara is, still to this day,the _only_person who can stop the beast inside of him. Their bond with each other, and friendship, was strong enough to last throughout another lifetime, as Avatar Roku once told him.

Aang then got up and stood, leaning against the beam behind his head, with his hands in his pockets. The elements in Katara's necklace were so strong when they were near each other, that it made him give the dark skinned girl a crooked smile as he looked down at her. Aang just couldn't get over how exquisitely magnificent and stunningly beautiful she still remained. She hadn't changed one bit.

"You are by far, the most captivating person that I will ever meet, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. You are loving, smart, beautiful, surprising, and a fighter who never gives up." he said, meaning every word, "Even though I have only known you a few days, I feel like I know you better than I do myself."

Katara looked up at the tall fourteen year old before her, and couldn't believe how honest he was being with her. He seemed to mean _every_word that he said, without letting his eyes wondering around her. They stayed right on her, as if she had hypnotized him somehow. But he had the same effect on her as well. The only other person she experienced this with was Aang, and she thought that she could _never _feel this way with anyone ever again, even Higen didn't have this effect on her. However, Katara wasn't sure if she liked this feeling, because it would mean that she had finally let go of Aang somehow, without realizing it. Even though she had tried countless times to do it, she was never able to do it, until Kuzon came into her life. Was she really ready to move on, and fall in love again so quickly after two years almost?

Aang quickly recovered himself as the silence prolonged, and held his hand out to the Waterbender with a smile still lingering on his face. Instantly, when Katara saw this, it reminded her of the time when Aang had asked her to take his hand, and dance with him. That was a night that she would never forget, as they impressed everyone with their dancing, which was actually a combination of waterbending neijia drills and capoeira that had turned out to be a good synchronized dance to other people.

When this memory came to her, she took his hand, and he brought her up close to his face. Time had stopped itself for them to be here in this moment, as they both kept looking at each others lips. Aang was still holding onto her hand, and then brought his other hand to her face. Some of her bangs were floating along her face, but Kuzon gently put it behind her ears. Katara felt like she was back in the air again with Aang, free falling and kissing him all over again. His touch sent electricity down her body, and making her legs weaker. The Monk was moving slowly into her, asking permission to kiss her.

Katara saw this, and the thoughts and wonders of what his lips would feel like on hers, began to cloud her mind, as he inched closer to her. The Waterbender then felt his lips feather touch hers, but she immediately turned away, before he could he could fully kiss her. She felt tears forming in her eyes, knowing that she was hurting Kuzon for doing this. Aang opened up his eyes, surprised at what just happened. He released her, which allowed her to back up a little from him. The Monk saw a tear fall down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. He couldn't believe that Higen had won her heart after all, and he was a fool for trying to take her happiness away.

Aang looked down and then licked his lips, seeing what now what a stupid move he tried to pull. He took his hair down, letting it fall to hide his face from the girl he still loved. He didn't look up as he hid his watery eyes from her and said in a whisper "I'm sorry again Katara. I know you are with Higen now, and it was wrong of me to try and kiss you like that."

Katara's heart dropped into her stomach as she looked at Kuzon, and seeing the agonizing pain that he tried to hide on his face from her. "Kuzon," she began as he continued to look at the ground, "it's not what you think it is. You see Higen and I…" but before she finished, Aang held his hand out for her to stop.

The Monk felt like somene had just taken a sword, and sliced his stomach open, and decided to put ocean water on it to help clean the wound. His heart felt like metal was bent around it, making it impossible to carry in his body. Aang was planning on telling her his secret tonight, but she wouldn't have him obviously. She had made her choice.

Aang looked up under his hair, still trying to hide his face, and said in a hoarsey voice, "You have nothing to explain to me. I know that I can never have what I want." The Airbender suddenly felt sweat forming on his forehead, as his scars began to feel like fire burning on him. He was screaming on the inside, but held his breath so as not to alarm Katara.

The Waterbender took a step closer, "Kuzon…you need to know that, I'm in love with-" but she was cut off again, by Kuzon.

"Stop!" he yelled in pain, not wanting to hear the name that was about to come. Suddenly, his knees gave out, and he rolled down the stair case, holding and flexing his stomach. Katara immediately ran after him, feeling as though Aang had just died in her arms again when Azula struck him with lightning. The Monk got on his knees, and held himself with one hand, while the other continued to craddle his stomach. His teeth were clenching so hard, that he felt like he was pushing them back up into his skull. Aang was beginning to black out, until he felt hands on his shoulders, which he pushed off quickly. Sweat was now pouring into his eyes, and making his hair stick to him.

Katara again tried to help him, but he scooted away from her, and then ran off. The Waterbender chased after him, screaming his name, but when she got to the wall that went around at the Palace gates, he was no where to be seen. She called to the guard, and asked if he saw anyone come this way, but he said no. The Water Girl looked back up at the giant gates one more time, and started walking back to the Palace slowly. Her tears just couldn't stop for one second, after she saw he the way Kuzon reacted. When it played back in her mind, she then stopped and fell to her knees, feeling like a panic attack was happening to her.

She couldn't control her breathing, as Katara continued to cry out loud. She felt like Toph just placed a bolder on top of her, crushing her chest slowly and painfully. The Waterbender didn't know why she was feeling this way, towards a young Firebender that she barely even knew. Her eyes were shut tight, hoping it would stop her from sobbing, but it only made it worse.

"I'm sorry Kuzon." she whispered out loud, as if he was still around to hear her, "I'm still in love with Aang."

Katara looked back down through he blurred eyes, seeing the tears drop from her to the ground, and landing in a small puddle on the cement.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang was running at his top speed through the city, with flyers and clothes flying up into the air, but he didn't care anymore. The demon inside of him was beginning to take hold of his body again, but he continued to run. This time though, instead of the evil spirit attacking from a certain area, it felt like he had multiplied himself somehow, and was attacking everywhere this time. The Monk finally reached the edge of the mountain, and then started running down the mountain's side. But he was going to fast, and ended up falling down the side. This time, Aang blacked out.

He could feel every pain of his body rolling down the giant rock, and battling Ozai at the same time. It was so hard for him to concentrate on his innerself, as he was physically being hurt. Just as he felt pain on the outside, he could feel the demon starting to take hold of him. But this time, It had learned, and began taking controls of his body. Aang knew that he hadn't reached his heart yet, but he felt his arms trying to stop himself, without _him_actually doing it. Then he heard a venomous laugh in his head, that was quiet and got louder, to where he couldn't hear the sounds of rocks on his armor. The Monk was beginning to panic, which only gave the Ozai more of an advantage.

Suddenly, Aang had reached the bottom of the mountain, and felt something hard hit his head. His last thought was of Katara wearing the necklace he made her, and how beautiful it looked on her dark colored skin. Before he was completely unconscious, he felt small rocks piling up on him, and making it hard to breathe.

OooooOooooOoooo

Toph and Teo had both decided to sneak out to the beach and spend some private time together that night after dinner. The Earthbender was having a blast with Tao, like she always did, but she began to wonder what he looked like. She could feel his vibrations going up his body, but she had never truly _seen_ what he looked like, and today she was going to do just that.

Teowas in his wheelchair with his shirt off, enjoying the cool breeze of the ocean on a hot summers day. For the last couple of months, he was able to see Toph grow into a beautiful young lady. Her hair could now fit intp a ponytail, with her bangs still hanging from her face. She still always wore her Earthbending clothes, but she could definitely clean up good, and dress amazingly with Katara being there to help out. The first time they went on a date, she came down in different colors of clothes that would have made her look like a clown, but he would have dressed the exact same way for her. He truly liked her that much.

"Tao?" Toph asked, "I need to ask you something, and it might seem silly."

Teo leaned over his chair and asked curiously, "What? You know I won't laugh." he said with a smile behind his words.

Toph then got up, and told him, "Just don't move, okay?" she asked nicely but then turned back to her normal self, "Or I'll beat the crap out of you!"

Teo answered with a laugh, as he looked up at the nervous Earthbender, "You don't scare me Toph Bei Fong. But if it helps any, I promise."

Toph took a deep gulp, and then reached her hands out. She hesitated at first, but then pressed her hands against left arm, while her right was on his chest. For a guy who could sit in a chair 24/7, his arms and chest were toned pretty well. He wasn't a buff guy like she imagined, but he still had much definition. She traveled both hands up to his neck, and feeling the charlie horse, which moved as soon as her fingers glided over it. The Earthbender could feel his pulse racing, but then again she couldn't tell if it was his or hers. Finally, her hand felt his chin, and could see that he had a dimple chin. His skin was smooth, but at the same time she could tell that he had just recently shaved. His lips felt so smooth and warm to her that it sent chills when he opened him mouth a little to breath. The hands continued over his nose, and it was perfect, not too big or pointy either. She felt the dip where his eyes went, as his eyelashes tickled her fingers, and then it was up to his shaggy hair. It was long, and she liked it. _"He is definitely good looking."_ she told herself, with a smile.

Teo couldn't take it anymore as her hand came back down his face. When her fingertips brushed against his lips, he grabbed her hands softly. Toph was caught off guard, trying to pull her hand back, but he had a firm grip on her wrists.

He then asked her, "Please, don't move." The young mechanist inched slowly closer to her lips, pulling her down slowly, and when he closed his eyes, he looked at those pale green eyes, and then her lips. But Toph stood up quickly, and looked around. Teo jumped a little, surprised at what she just did, but could tell something was bugging her. He followed her eye sight and ended up seeing a cloud of dirt on the right side of the mountain.

"What's up?" Teo asked dissappointingly, but was still curious.

"I felt a huge vibration of rocks sliding, but then again it wasn't rocks? It was something much softer…" Toph concluded, as she continued to listen to the sound of rocks still falling.

Teo knew that look in her eyes, even though she was blind, and said with a smile, "Lets check it out then!"

And with that settled, they went towards the dust cloud. It was only a mile away, as they had at last came to the pile of rocks. Toph could feel a heart beating slowly when she finally caught her breath, and then there was a groan under the rock pile.

"Over there!" Toph pointed for Teo, and then she Earthbended everything away, except the body that laid there.

Teo rolled over to the where the body was, as he laid down on his stomach, with his head bleeding onto the white rock underneath him. He was definitely Fire Nation, and his armor on his shoulders were badly dented, and scratched. The Firebender before him was covered in brown dirt, but he seemed to be breathing due to the dirt that was moving under his nose. He was badly wounded, and could easily have broken a lot of bones if it wasn't for the armor that he wore. Teo rolled over to the side of his face, where his hair covered up his upper half, and removed it.

"Toph!" yelled Teo, and turning the body onto his back gently without hurting him more, but he groaned in agony.

"Wha…?" the Earthbender began walking toward Teo, but stopped, knowing that body heat from anywhere. "It's Kuzon!" she said almost in a whisper.

"How is he doing?" Teo asked urgently as he saw some cuts on his face, with brown dirt mixed in his mouth and the blood.

Toph went over to him, and touched the ground next to him, "His heartbeat and breathing are slow, but he might be okay?"

Teo looked over his entire body, and then something caught his eye, as he looked at his left hand, that was in his pocket. Teo gently grabbed his arm, and pulled it out. The fist was tightly around something that was some type of blue cloth, sticking out from his thumb, making it seem like he was protecting it for some reason. He pried open the death grip, and a necklace fell to ground, making a weird clinging sound. Teo looked at it weirdly in the moon light, and picked it up. At first there was nothing on the blue cloth, but a clear circle with drops of water in it. Strangely, Teo thought that he had seen something similar to this, but he didn't know where?

He flipped the necklace over, and sucked in air loud enough for Toph to know that he had found something. "What? Teo what do you see?" she yelled, wishing she had his eyes right now.

Teo looked at the necklace that had three white Air Nomad symbols that he easily recognized from the Northern Air Temple, and light blue Water symbols that he recognized from Katara's own necklace. And the words that were written on the weird clear sphere said, _"Love is brightest in the dark."_The young Inventor's eyes got bigger, and then he looked back at Kuzon…Aang.

Toph punched Teo to snap him out of it, "What do you see?" she yelled at him again.

Teo looked back at Aang, and then back at Toph, "Look!" he said, as his eyes never left Aang's body.

"Whats wrong with you people, I'm blind!" she said, waving her hands in front of her face, like she always did, to prove a point.

"Sorry. Here, hold out your hands." Teo said, placing the necklace in her hands genlty, afraid that he would break it if he wasn't careful. And then he remembered why it looked so familiar, because it was similar to Katara's!

The Earthbender used both of her hand to feel the symbols on it, slowly going over it as she felt the threads that seemed to have three twirls going around in a circle, and then she felt a different shape. A circle with three small squiggles on the bottom half, and three more twisted circles on top. This pattern continued to the very end of the necklace, where it would connect with the opposite side. Toph could recognized those symbols anywhere, and then her fingers came back to a cool, light sphere with indented words, but not knowing what it said.

Toph finally said, "Hmm, a necklace, with water and air…" then she stopped. _"NO way!"_ she thought to herself.

Teo could read her reaction, "It's a betrothal necklace, it's just like Katara's! Kuzon is _Aang_!" he yelled, and then decided to put his theory to test. He got his dagger out from behind his back, and cut a line on his clothing near Aang's upper arm.

Toph still couldn't believe it, "It can't be Twinkle Toes! He's been gone for almost two years now! It's impossible!"

Teo put his dagger mouth, and then placed both of his hands on the thin strip and then pulled it in opposite directions, to make the hole bigger. And then he saw it. Sky blue tattoos that went all the way down to his elbow, and then the shadows from the moon light cut it off.

Teo place the dagger behind his back and said, "It's Aang, alright. He has the tattoos to prove it."

Toph still didn't want to believe him at all, she didn't want to believe that he had been back for a while without them even knowing it. They had all discussed how similar her looked to him, and the way he acted around Katara, but never once did they _actually _believe that he would be living with them right under their noses. Toph was ready to kill Aang, but he was going to need to live first in order for her to do it.

"Teo, see if can you try and wake him up! If you can't, I may need you to go and get water from the ocean, the cold might bring him out of it!" she said giving him a direct order.

The young inventor heard her order, but he examined Aang a little bit more, and could see the blood dripping down his hair, and onto the rock. "You talk to him and keep pressure on his head, he's lost some blood." Teo then reached for his shirt, that was handing off of the wheelchair, and applied pressure. He then grabbed Toph's hand, and placed it on the wound. "Keep pressure here and I'll get the water!" he said, and then he wheeled down the path that Toph made for him.

The Earthbender didn't know what to do, as the silence was filled with rock hoppers everywhere. She could still feel his heartbeat, and it was very possible that he could hear, so she had to try. Toph put her mouth near his ear while still holding the betrothal necklace, and applying pressure to him. She could feel some of the warm blood seeping through it, but she decided to, for once, listen to Teo.

"Aang?" she screamed as loud as she could, making every animal quiet, but Aang didn't stir, and his heart beat didn't change either. Toph sighed, placing her right hand on his armor, and could feel the dents, and parts that were cut off from the fall.

Toph kind of smiled, "You got lucky Twinkle Toes…the spirits seem to like you for some reason. I can't imagine why?" she said sarcastically, knowing that the Avatar was the most important person in the entire world.

She then sighed again as she continued to wait for Teo, and tried to talk to Aang again, "You know, when you first left, we were all devastated, but our pain was nothing to Katara's." Suddenly Aang moved a little, and grunted, but he stopped quickly.

"We searched for you for so long Aang, but you knew how to stay hidden." Toph said, and then quiet tears were coming down her face, causing her to sniffle. "You were my best friend, but you ran away. I know you ran because of what you did to hurt Katara, but it didn't mean that you had to leave! We needed you Aang!" she yelled at him, as her tears fell on his dirty armor. Again the Monk stirred a little, and making no more progress than that.

"Why didn't you ask us to come Aang? Why did you leave?" she whispered at him. By about this time Teo was returning back with a pouch full of water.

He rolled his way over to him and Toph, then asked her, "Did he say anything?" Toph shook her head, wishing that he did. Teo dumped then entire pouch of water onto his face which made him wake up.

The only thing that Aang could hear was a high ringing sound in his ear, and nothing but darkness in sight. Then there was a lot of mumbling, that lasted for some minutes. Suddenly, a cool liquid came over him, and the water went into his mouth and nose, causing him to cough. Automatically, the scared boy screamed "No!" as if he was still fighting Ozai, and when he looked up he could see that he was in a fighting stance, with two people in front of him.

The Monk abruptly felt sick, as the world around him began spinning, and his head was pounding like Toph hit him with a metal sledge hammer. Aang dropped onto his hands and knees, feeling pain all over his body. He moved his arms around a little, making sure that this wasn't the Demon controlling him. Aang sighed in relief, but became frightened even more. _"What is he waiting for?" _he asked himself, knowing that he was unconscious, and yet the Spirit didn't take advantage. The Monks head started pounding again, as his mind tried to rattle the riddles.

"Aang?" Teo asked, and then the Airbender looked up automatically, forgetting that he was Kuzon.

The Avatar leaned back, and sat on his butt, "Nope. I'm Kuzon." he said, trying to fix his mistake.

"Don't even _think_ about lying anymore Air Boy! Choose what you say wisely, and I _might_lessen the beating you are about to receive!" Toph yelled furiously, holding out the betrothal necklace in front of her.

The Monk's hands automatically went to his pockets, finding no necklace in it, and then into the right one, where his letter still remained, which made him grateful. He didn't need them to know what he had been doing, and that letter would give away too much information. He looked back up at the both of them, and his eyes began to go to the back of his head, but he shook it off. Aang's memory was a little shaken, like the only thing he remembered was Ozai, and the two people in front of him. The rest, was a blank as to how he got here.

Aang rubbed his eyes and sighed knowing that there was no escape of this, "Fine. You caught me." he said, and airbenbed the necklace back into his hands. The Airbender looked at the necklace under the moon light, and then finally put it back into his pocket, confused as to why the Demon inside of him was not in control of him. The silence around them was absolutely horrible to Aang, but he refused to talk first. He knew they had questions for him, which he could only answer a few of them in the end.

"Why did you disguise yourself as someone else Aang?" Teo asked, breaking the silence.

The Monk sat on his knees, feeling like he should throw up, "It's…complicated." he managed to say. And then he put his right hand on his head, and felt the warm blood. When he pulled his hand away, he saw the dark red on his palm under the white moon, which made his nightmares seem real again. Then the Avatar told them exactly what he told Zuko the first time they met, as well as why he changed his name, but not to why he left.

Toph crossed her arms and said, "That's it?"

Aang continued to look at the couple before him, "I can't tell you anymore than that."

"Can't, or won't?" the Earthbender asked.

The Monk put his head down, "Both." he said in pain.

Teo tried to help Aang out a little, "Who else knows about this?" he asked curiously.

Aang's headache was killing him, and it didn't help that it felt like they were screaming at him when they weren't. "No one, just you guys and Zuko."

"How did Zuko find out?" Toph asked, with some jealousy in her voice. Then the Monk told her of his return to the Fire Nation, and that Zuko asked everything that he had asked. Everthing in the Airbender started to feel tingle again, as the world around him began spinning his head around. Aang couldn't hold it in anymore, and threw up in front of his knees, and then fell to the side, blacking out again.

The next thing Aang knew, he felt a cool liquid on his head, in the shape of hands. The pounding headache was beginning to fade, and it helped his memory come back to him too. It felt like someone had just taken all of the pressure on the side of his head away, and the hands that were on him were like magic to him. There was no way that he could forget those hands, especially when they were _this_ smooth, and cool against his head.

The Monk slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw were light blue clothing, and a person with dark skin tone. He caught a glimpse of a blue water tribe necklace, and then the face of a blue eyed angel. Unexpectedly, Aang remembered _everything_. It all came rushing back to him in a heartbeat, which made things worse. He remembered what happened between him and Katara, then running away, and falling down the side of the mountain while fighting Ozai. Which he still didn't know why or how he was able to make the evil leave while he was unconscious, but he was just happy it didn't happen.

"Do you know your name?" Katara asked, as she sat on the side of her bed, looking down at the wounded young man.

Aang wasn't for sure if she knew, but he played it off, "Ku-Kuzon." he said, hoping it was the correct answer.

The Waterbender smiled, "Good. Now, how many fingers am I holding?" she asked, and then she held up her fingers.

The Monk blinked a couple of times, counted and said, "Three."

Again the girl smiled, "Correct. Now follow my finger." she said holding up her index finger, and moving it sideways and up and down. Aang did as he was told, and then she said behind her, "He's going to be fine. It was a mild concussion it looks like, but he seems to be okay. It was a good thing you brought him when you did Toph and Teo."

The young couple looked at each other with sighs of relief on their faces, and then the Earthbender said, "Sorry about what I did to you Kuzon." Aang cocked his head at her, as he desperately tried to remember what she did to him, but nothing came up.

The blind girl sensed his confusion, and said, "We were training against each other, because you said that you needed to do something, but I threw a rock at you, and then I threw another without you noticing it. You went slamming against a wall, and the next thing we knew, you weren't moving. So, sorry. Next time I'll go a bit easier on you."

Teo then stepped in, to make the story sound a little more real, "You know Kuzon, for a Firebender, you held your end up pretty well. I must say that I was impressed." he proclaimed, while he crossed his arms and giving Aang a secret wink.

Even though those two knew everything about him, they were still willing to lie for him. Aang smiled, thinking that he truly had found friends that would always take care of him, and protect him as well. But then again, he hated that they knew who he was, and he was afraid that it would slip out eventually.

"Thanks Teo and Toph. You guys are the best." he said, with a slow nod of appreciation towards them.

"But don't think your out of this match between us," Toph began, "we are going to finish what we started." she said in a clear, and venomous tone. Meaning that he was going to get a beating from her once he was better, but he hoped that he was injured enough to hold out on that for a little while. Katara then asked them to leave, which they did reluctantly, and left Aang with the Waterbender in her room.

The room was a little bit smaller than his, but it seemed to be perfect for her. The Airbender then looked at his left arm, where Teohad cut a pieces of his clothing, but could see that he had tied some kind of cloth to hide his tattoos. He also noticed that the armor, to the floor on his right, was all scratched up with a lot of bumps in it. Aang was so happy that he didn't take it off, because he could have had a broken body, and it would have ruined his secret with Katara. Which he couldn't handle as of right now, but now that half of the group knew he was back, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out.

Then a sweet, sweet smell came to his nose, with a mixture of ocean water and pink carnation flowers. He recognized the flower because he loved the smell of them too, and he didn't know that they were her favorite now. Aang smiled, and seeing that they had something else in common, but it obviously didn't matter.

Katara came back over, and sat on the side of the bed, looking down at Kuzon. His face was badly scratched up, but she cleaned them as best as she could, knowing that they wouldn't turn into scars on his admirable face. She was just happy that he was going to be okay after his duel with Toph, but she wasn't sure how he felt after their 'almost kiss.'

"Would you mind helping me to my bed?" Aang asked, not really wanting to stay in her room, or be near her right now. The Avatar's pain of rolling down a hillside, and getting a mild concussion, was _nothing_compared to what he was still feeling with Katara's choice. The Waterbender was about to protest against this, but Kuzon was already starting to move, and swung his legs over.

"Sure." she said, giving him a light grin. She made him put his right arm around her shoulder, and to put his weight on her. Even though he was tall, and a very toned guy, he was a lot lighter than she thought he was. She then grabbed his hand, so he wouldn't fall, and then put the other around his side. He was extrememly hot, but then again she figured all Firebender's were kind of like that. Katara felt the muscles of his of his lower abdominal, where he hand lingered, and for some reason she tightened her grip around it. She could feel the strength of his muscles moving through her hands, as they walked back to his room, and she couldn't help but feel her body tingling. Her butterflies came back strong, making her temperature rise as well.

Aang looked down at Katara, as he felt the sudden heat heat between them when her hands tightened up on his lower side. He wasn't sure how he should feel, but his anger and pain was starting to melt away little by little. When they entered into his room, she helped him onto the bed, releasing him from her tight girp. He sat on side of the bed, with his head down so as not to look at her, waiting for her to leave. It would only hurt him more to see that heavenly being in front of him, who seemed to care about him.

He closed his eyes, with the last sight of her shoes, and said in a thick voice, "Thank you. Katara."

The Waterbender's heart began to get heavier when he said this, even though she knew he meant it, it still made things worse. She wished that whatever happened to them a couple of hours ago, could just disappear, and be forgotten between them, but it wasn't going to be that easy for her to do. It was _so_hard for her to think clearly when she was around Kuzon, and it only made it far more torturing for her to keep rejecting him like this. She didn't like kissing other guys, even Higen and her only kissed once, and that was when she introduced Kuzon to all of them. Which surprised her, and she didn't really like it that he did that to her, especially in front of everyone. Even Kuzon's own reaction to this, made it even worse, which caused her to blush at him.

Katara shook the memories, and focused on the matter at hand. She sat on the bed next to him, and pulled his face up with her left hand. His eyes stayed closed for a couple more seconds longer, until those gray spheres of affliction, with purple bags underneath, looked up at her. The feeling of his face felt so warm underneath her hands, feeling his breathe on her arm, and sending goose bumps as always. Katara was _aching_ to kiss him now, as he sat there looking at her and not moving, but his eyes kept falling onto her lips.

The Waterbender desperately wanted to explain her reasons for what happened tonight, but she chose to spare him, since he seemed to be in enough pain as it is. She gave him a warming smile, pulled him close to her face, and kissed him underneath the left scar on his cheek. When she moved back, Katara saw his eyes get bigger, and then a blush began formed on Kuzon's face. Just like Aang always did.

"What was that for?" he asked confused at the Waterbender. He couldn't believe that he just felt the sensation of her lips on him, and without her apologizing for it!

The Waterbender shrugged, not really understanding it either, "I don't know, actually…" she said, giving him a small fake laugh. Katara didn't know what just happened to her, but she had to get control of herself, before Kuzon would try to kiss her _again_. And the thought of it only made the room become hotter, making it seem like she was sucking in humid air. The dark skinned girl finally let her hand drop from his cheek, and she got up quickly, seeing the same look of hope on his face. She walked to the door, hearing only her footsteps in the room, and slid the door open. Katara looked back at the dark figure who wasn't looking at her, but where she was sitting.

"I'll make sure a servant come in to wake you every couple of hours." she said, in a low voice, "Just to be on the safe side." And with that said, Katara slid the door back faintly, and then she started walking down the hall. When she finally turned a corner, the young Water Girl felt her body going numb, and she couldn't feel anything anymore. She put her left hand out on the wall to hold herself up, and stopped when the pain in her stomach worsened. Katara leaned her body on her shoulders, and then put her back against the wall, as she began sliding down to the floor.

When she finally reached the bottom, she pulled her knees in, and began crying. The Waterbender placed her right hand over her mouth, so that the noise couldn't escape from her, but it was hard for her to contain her scream that was building up inside of her. The tears were still able to squeeze through her hand, and onto her lips. She felt herself falling to her left side, and caught herself before she made it to the ground. Katara's right hand moved to her eyes, as if she was covering her love for Aang from the world to see. The Waterbender sucked in her sobbing cries, and making it difficult for her to breathe normally.

Suddenly her left arm gave out, and she landed her head on her lower shoulder. Katara didm't try to pick herself up, but used her arm as a pillow, and pulled herself back into a ball with her other arm. Katara didn't know how long she was on that ground crying, but she still couldn't see anything through her eyes, as it was still blurred with water. The whole time she was telling herself, over and over again, _"I love Aang, not Kuzon."_

**Okay, so more and more people are starting to learn about his identity. It doesn't seem likes its going to last long, which he will have to deal with Sokka IF he finds out. That'll be interesting!**

**Anyway, you guys know what to do, so please review me. I read them! And sorry for not having a lot of Kataang, but there were SO close this time, and Katara is struggling as she stays loyal to Aang. Which can be SO difficult if it's the same guy! Hope you liked it!**

**Peace and Love Avatar Fans**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hooray! I kept my statis quoe, got it to you guys by FRIDAY! Thank you guys for all of the emails, and reviews that I have been getting back from all of you guys! It truly makes me write more and more for you guys out there! Sorry for my grammar and spelling ahead of time. Anyways, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Remember, I don't own anything of Avatar! Enjoy!**

For the next two weeks, things between Katara and Aang weren't going that well. They both seemed to always separate from each other, or keep busy with just about anything. Katara would try and figure out where Hama and the rest of the Rebellion could be, but it was of no use because her focus was on Aang and Kuzon. For the Avatar he continued to train with other people, using fire only, and occasionally would go with Toph somewhere secluded, where no could find them. The lies for the Monk were getting tougher and tougher for him, and he was becoming miserable. Everything that Monk Gyatso had taught him was being melted away little by little, and he hated it. He hated who he was becoming, and it made it worse that no one else, besides three people of the Gang knew who he really was.

Aang had been trying to get some time alone with Katara, but like always, she was avoiding him. He didn't blame her either; she had her heart set for someone else, and not him. And after nights of crying, and get absolutely no sleep at all, he was becoming physically and emotionally exhausted. Sokka was also starting to become even more curious about Kuzon as well, which made him ask many questions, and it was hard for Aang to keep up with it. The Monk had to figure out a way to tell them, and fast. But he had also learned that his lying techniques are helping the evil spirit inside of him grow. The Airbender found this out when he fell asleep after crying for a little bit, and it was worse than he thought.

OooooOooooOoooo

_Aang didn't know why he here in the Spirit World, but he felt like he was back on the Lion Turtle's back. He sat in the middle of the hexagon, with Avatar Roku and Guru Pathik in front of him. It was so nice to see them again, especially since he hadn't been to the Spirit World in a long time. The Monk was still sitting in the same position that he was in, when he would asked for their wisdom's, but this time it was different as well._

_Avatar Roku stepped forward, and spoke, "You must stop these lies Aang. Can you not see what it has been doing to you?"_

_The Airbender clenched his jaws, and looked down in shame. "I know. I feel like I'm losing myself, like I can no longer be called a Monk because of what I have been doing."_

_Roku and Pathik both decided to sit down in front of him, and then Pathik spoke, "You can never truly lose who you are young Avatar. No matter what happens in your life, you can find yourself again. But this has to end. Now."_

_For once, Aang was happy to hear someone tell him that. Toph, Zuko, and Teo had been telling him everyday to do this, but he would always shuffle it away. And for some reason, it was just better for him to hear it from the Guru and Roku._

_The Firebender spoke again, "Aang, can you not see that you are strengthening Ozai by doing this?"_

_The Monks eyes got big, "What? What are you talking about?"_

"_It's just like when a moth is attracted to a flame. It is the_ exact_ same with Ozai. You are fueling his fire within you, by your lies, and he's using it against you. That is why he has been becoming more and more stronger everyday, and why he seems to quickly take over your body without taking your heart first." Roku said, with concern in his voice._

"_But why hasn't he been able to reach my heart, he seems to get control of me anyways?" the Airbender asked with some fear showing in his words. _

_This time, Guru Pathik decided to step in, "Your heart is still good Aang, and even when you were unconscious, you were able to fight him off subconsciously. Everything that I have shown you, and trained you for, your mind _and_ heart are both working together. Your body knows what to do automatically, IF you actually allow it to do so."_

_The Airbender knew what he meant about allowing his body to go into self-defense. When he had first heard of Katara, and her boyfriend, his world was shattered in a million pieces. He no longer cared about what happened to him, or if Ozai would win against everything that he fought so hard for. His mind _and_ heart were on the matters of him losing the most important person in his life, and nothing else seemed to make him care. And Ozai almost won, because he just didn't attempt to even try and stop him. But then Aang remembered a woman's voice telling him not to give up, but he still couldn't figure out whose it was?_

_Guru Pathik knew what he was thinking, and said, "The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves. We live in denial of what we do, and even what we think. We do this because we are afraid. We fear that we will not find love, and when we find it we fear we will lose it. Your love for Katara is strong; do not lose faith of that."_

_The Avatar thought about for a little bit, taking in the Guru's advice. He was so happy to hear his words of wisdom once again. He decided to ask a different question now, "Why is it that the Spirit seems to come when I least expect it? It's like he's teasing me, and it's driving me crazy at times."_

_Avatar Roku took his turn, "That we do not know Aang. There are some things we cannot predict, and even Pathik here, doesn't quite understand the nature of this Spirit. He seems to attack when you are hurting physically and emotionally, it finds your weaknesses."_

"_But even when he does, he doesn't seem to exploit it all of the time. It's like he is waiting for me to make a great mistake." Aang said in speculation._

_Roku and Pathik both stood up in front of the young Monk, and then Firebender said, "It is very possible that he is, and he seems to be learning fast. You _must_ stop these lies Aang or it will truly corrupt you, and destroy you, just as the Lion Turtle once told you."_

"_I know I need to…it's just, well, I'm scared Roku. I know that the Monks taught me not to lie, and it goes against _everything_ in my nature, but why does it seem _so _easy to do?" Aang asked, as he continued to sit in front of the great Spirits._

"_Because," Guru Pathik said, "it is also in Ozai's nature to do this. For years he kept teaching people of the Fire Nation that they are a great civilization, and that others _deserve_ to see just how great they truly are. But to him, it meant destroying the world, not helping."_

_Aang nodded as he understood what they were telling him. Good and evil were fighting inside of him, and he was happy to know that his heart was still strong enough to stand and fight the demon burning inside of him. Monk Gyatso once told him, when he was eight years old, and he had broken Gyatso's Air Nomad necklace, because he wanted to see what it looked like on him. But he got it caught onto something, and it broke. When Gyatso came in and saw this, he asked Aang if he had done this, but the little Monk denied it, because he didn't want to get in trouble. _

_Gyatso wasn't mad at him in the least bit, but said something that he would always remember, "Aang, when we tell lies we are afraid…afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid about of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing we fear grows strong. So I will ask you again, did you do this?"_

_Aang remembered himself crying to Gyatso, and telling him that he didn't mean to do it, and that he was truly sorry for what he did. His best friend hugged him, and told him he didn't care about the necklace, but the well being of his truthful heart. Eventually Aang made it up to him, and decided to make him a new Air Nomads necklace, one in which he would be proud of._

_Avatar Roku spoke up again, "Monk Gyatso is right Aang. Lies are connected to fears, and you must stop this. You don't have to tell them _all_ that happened while you were gone, but you can no longer be Kuzon." Then both of the characters disappeared, leaving him in the middle of the hexagon, alone._

OooooOooooOoooo

Even though that dream was three days ago, he remembered the entire conversation well. He now knew what needed to be done, and it was going to end tonight. The Monk had spent all night, trying to find the right way to tell Katara first, and then Sokka. He felt absolutely horrible for not having told them first, since they were the ones who had been with him since the beginning. And yet, they seemed like they were going to be the hardest to tell the truth to, especially Katara. Aang had been trying to talk to Katara, but she always seemed to be away, studying, or washing her hair, which she seemed to be doing a lot.

The Airbender was walking down the halls of the Palace, and stopped when he saw Zuko's father's picture hanging on the wall. Here stood the man who was deep inside of him, torturing him, and killing him at times it felt like. They had all fought _so_ hard to defeat him, but he was still alive and well in Aang. He began to wonder if there was even a remote possibility of him getting the Demon out of him, without harming himself or the others. Even though he saw Guru Pathik in his dreams, it wasn't like he could call upon him and he would show up. Whenever he was in the Spirit world, Roku was always there, but at times, when he was truly lost, others would come and show themselves to him without him seeking their presence. It was strange, but it was like he was calling out to certain people without even meaning to, just like when Yue came to him once.

Suddenly, Aang felt a hand on his shoulder, which made him jump a little, and made him go into a fighting stance. When he looked saw the young Waterbender standing in front of him, he relaxed, and put his head down in embarrassment.

Katara gave him a small smile, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but you have been looking up at that picture of Ozai for quite some time now. Are you okay?" she asked sincerely.

Aang looked back up at the picture, and then back at her, "Yeah." he said, "I just…I just have a lot on my mind." he said, rubbing his neck.

"Like what?" she pressed, knowing that it wasn't any of her business, especially after giving Kuzon the cold shoulder for so long. But it didn't mean that she didn't care for him at all, but she just had to be careful with him. _"Easier said than done." _she thought to herself.

"I was just thinking about the last Fire Lord, and all of the things he had done. It's just horrible to think of what a truly evil man he was, especially for wanting to burn the world to ashes." Aang said truthfully, not wanting to make eye contact with her.

Katara then stood next to Kuzon, and looked up at the picture too. "I know what you mean. His grandfather was the worst of all, once we learned what he did to Avatar Roku." she concluded as her eyes darted to Fire Lord Sozin.

The Airbender looked down at her, and asked "What do you mean?" even though he knew the story, he wanted to hear what she could remember.

"A friend once told me, that Avatar Roku and Sozin were best friends. But Sozin betrayed him when he wanted to expand the 'wealth' of the Fire Nation to others. When Avatar Roku saw this, he attacked this very Palace, but showed mercy to him out of their past friendship. He still however, threatened to kill Sozin if he ever tried to attempt it again, which I wish sometimes that he would have just done it." Katara said, and closed her eyes as she thought of the past 100 years, leaving the world 'scarred' as Zuko once said.

Aang wondered if she would have really wanted that, especially after she found him frozen in that block of ice almost three years ago. Katara had told him in a small cave that what happened with him running away, and meeting each other was always meant to be. The world needed him when Katara and Sokka had found him in that iceberg, and now he was needed once again. But first, he had to fix his mistakes with his family before he could take on the world once again.

The Waterbender continued, "It had been twenty-five years since those two saw each other again. Then Roku had to fight off two volcanoes, on his own, in order to save his village. He was losing badly, and wanted to give up, but Sozin came to help him. However, when it really came down to it, and Avatar Roku was dying from the toxic gas, Sozin left him there. And when that was over with, he attacked the Southern Air Temple, killing and burning everything in sight. He was trying to kill the last hope for the world, but he failed miserably at that." she said with a smile, while her eyes started to water a little.

The Airbender was surprised at how well she remembered that story, but could also see that she was indeed grateful for Sozin's failure in finding him. When Aang first saw the flashbacks of this, he was shocked at the things he learned. Their stories proved that _anyone_ can be of great good and great evil, and that friendships can last more than one lifetime.

"How do you know this story?" the Monk asked, again knowing the answer.

Katara looked back up into those gray eyes that reminded her of the Airbender, and said, "Because Avatar Aang told us about it once. He was my…best friend as well as the rest of the Gang's. We all played a part in training him, and it is still to this day, an adventure that I'll never forget."

Aang smiled at this memory, even after _all_ that they had been through, she really seemed like she wouldn't trade the past away for anything. The Monk was about to ask her another question, but Sokka's timing seemed to be perfect as always.

"Come on you two!" the Boomerang guy said, with his arm around Suki's shoulders, "Its lunch time!"

Aang and Katara both looked at each other and laughed at little, seeing that Sokka was hungry once again. They both followed him into the dinning room to find no food on the table, which of course made Sokka mad, as he looked at everyone else in the room who had sat there with absolutely nothing to eat.

"Where's the meat?" Sokka yelled at Zuko, who sat at the head of the table.

Zuko looked up, and said, "Sorry, there won't be a lunch right now. I've let the servants have the day off."

"YOU DID WHAT?" the Meat boy yelled louder, causing Suki to let go of him, and sit down next to Mai. Aang then noticed that Mai, and Suki were looking at him in a weird way, like they knew his secret. But he knew Toph and Teo wouldn't say anything, however, Zuko said that Mai had her ways of finding the truth out. Whatever that meant?

"Are you deaf?" Zuko answered, "I said I let them have the day off!"

"I heard you the first time Zuko! I mean why? Servants don't get the day off, that's why they are _servants_!" he said, banging his fist on the table in front of him. Katara then slapped her brother in the back of the head, for that remark.

"Ow!" he said rubbing his head, and turned back towards Katara "What did you do that for?"

"Because of what you said!" Katara yelled at him in a motherly tone.

Zuko decided to break up this family matter, "Sokka, I wanted to give them the day off, because they all deserve it. They too have families, and I figured that they could use a day of rest and fun."

"But what about _my_ food! Or my laundry that they were going to be doing today?" Sokka yelled again, knowing his clothes were piling up a lot now.

Zuko smiled a little, "Sokka, I've been telling my Servants that they should never, _ever,_ go near your things, unless they wanted to drop dead. I spent enough time with your hygiene during our travels, and I don't think we need anyone else to suffer your wrath!"

When Zuko said this, Aang had remembered when Toph had first joined the group. They were all running away from Azula, Tai Lee, and Mai, who were constantly chasing them no matter where they went. On one of their stops, they were getting their supplies off of Appa, and Katara asked for some help from Toph. Her only response was, _"Really? You need me to help unpack Sokka's funky smelling sleeping bag?" _And because of Sokka's curiosity to that remark, he smelt it and he ended up passing out from his own stench. The Monk laughed to himself when he thought of this memory, knowing it was a good idea that Zuko told his Servants this.

"You did what? Aw-no wonder my clothes have been getting worse and worse!" he said, realizing this.

"Just do it yourself!" Zuko said, trying to make this stupid argument go away.

"No! That's a woman's job to do!" Sokka yelled back, forgetting the females in the room. And then he started sweating when Toph stood up, with the small comet rock that was floating in her hands, while Mai took out her daggers as they bounced off from the light and into his eyes. Suki was giving him a look that was going to scared him, and his sister looked like she was about to water whip him, if he didn't apologize for what he just said.

Sokka started to get nervous now as he looked at the four girls around him, and finally put his head down in defeat. "I'll just do my own laundry." he said in a low voice, and went over to sit by Suki, feeling her eyes burning a hole right through him.

Aang was still standing in front of everyone, and decided to intervene and help his friend out a little, "You know Sokka, I'm a pretty descent cook, and I'm sure I can brew something up for you if that would help you any?"

Sokka looked up at the Firebender, and smiled, "Yes." he said in a loving manner, with puppy eyes. As of right now, the Pony Tailed guy officially liked Kuzon, especially now that he could cook. He had been on his case a lot, asking him questions, but that was going to stop now that he just became his friend.

The Monk smiled, and went into the kitchen to start helping with their lunch plans. He got out all of the supplies to make it, and began cooking. After doing about half of the work, he heard someone come in from behind the door, as she leaned up against the door. The Waterbender just kept watching his every move, which made Aang more nervous now. The Airbender was beginning to sweat a little, and as he continued cutting up some potatoes, he ended up cutting his finger.

Aang sucked air through his teeth, as he felt the stings of the blood. As the red liquid started to drip down his index finger, he put it into his mouth, hoping to stop it. He then heard a small giggle from the girl from across the room, as she started walking over to him. And then she took out her water, moved Kuzon behind her, and started swinging the water around like a sword at the meat and veggies. When she finished, nothing seemed to move. Aang still had part of his finger in his mouth as he continued to look. After a few seconds, everything that she touched fell into sliced pieces.

She laughed again at his surprised look, "Sokka said you were taking too long, so I thought I could help you. Especially, since I have more experience in cutting things better than you obviously."

"Hey," the Monk said, holding his cut finger up at her, "I said I was a descent cook. Not a Mastered cook like you!"

Katara shrugged at the truth he just proclaimed, and then took his hand. She got her water back out, and wrapped her hand around the one that was bleeding, and closed her eyes as she inhaled, and exhaled. When she opened her eyes, the water fell to the ground, when she saw that the tiny wound had disappeared.

Aang gave her a thankful smile, "That's a pretty neat trick; it must come in handy when you have a brother like Sokka around." he said, knowing _very _well that it was true. The Waterbender bit the bottom of her lip as she laughed, and punched Kuzon lightly on his arm, knowing that Sokka was about to get killed by the girls in the room next to them.

"Well," Katara said, "you are more than welcome to _help_ me cook if you would like to, since you are a little _descent _at it Kuzon." And then she smiled at her little joke.

"Are you saying that I am not capable of not fending for myself?" Aang asked, as he crossed his arms, with an eyebrow up.

The Water Girl laughed through her nose, "Oh no!" she said in a joking manner, "I would never say that to a Firebender, who seems to know how to cut his finger, and not the food."

"Ha!" he said laughed sarcastically, "Well then, I hope to master all that I can from you Sifu Katara." Aang then bowed down to her, "I must learn how to not cut my finger when your presence seems to make me nervous as well." Instantly the Monk wished that he hadn't had said that, knowing it would upset Katara, but she instead bit her lip again, holding back that little smile of hers that made his world shine.

With Katara's cooking and Aang's Firebending, they were able to make a meal quickly for everyone. Aang listened to Katara as she talked about the Southern Water Tribe, her teaching with the young Waterbender's, her Father and Gran Gran, and how they were the most important people to her, aside from her brother. The Monk decided to keep asking questions about her, so he wouldn't have to lie to her anymore. He was sick of doing it to her, and it was going to end tonight when he would tell her at the beach. Now, he just needed a good reason to take her down there.

After an hour passed by, they were finally done, and brought the food out to the group. They both decided to make their own version of green spicy noodles, a huge plate of meat mixed with different colored veggies, fried dough with cinnamon on top, cooked fish and lemons slices on top of a bed of rice, five flavored soup, and a huge bowl of mixed fruit that Aang had decided to make, since that was all Katara would allow him to do. The Gang chewed down the small feast in front of them, with many happy moans as their mouths tasted Katara's cooking. Once everything was done, they all decided to head into the small library that Zuko had. Toph and Teo decided to play Pai Sho, Zuko continued to study up on the Rebellions and his missing people, Mai was sharpening her daggers and arrows, while Sokka was begging for Suki's forgiveness of what he said at the table, but she continued to give him the silent treatment. Anyone could tell that Suki was enjoying it, and that she had already forgiven him a long time ago.

Aang had decided to help Katara out with the dishes, so that the Servants didn't come back to a pile of greasy food and sticky plates. The Monk loved helping Katara out; it was still a habit that didn't seem to break, even when he was gone. After many minutes they were nearly done, and the Airbender still didn't know how he was going to ask the Waterbender to come down to the beach. He wanted to tell her in private, so as not to let Sokka hear their conversation just yet. Aang took a deep breath after Katara handed him the last cleaned dish for him to dry off.

"Katara?' he said, as he continued to towel down the already dried up plate, "I was, umm, _wondering_...if you would, ugh." Aang just couldn't get it out, and it was making it harder for him to focus with her looking at him.

Finally he spit it out, "?" he said too fast to even understand what he just said.

The Waterbender laughed a little, "Okay, whatever you said, please help me understand it. I don't speak Firebending code."

The Monk took another deep breath, and closed his eyes, "Would. You. Like. To. Go. To. The. Beach. With. Me. Tonight?" he said, a little more slower, making it seem like he was talking to a deaf person.

Katara to linger as she looked up at the young man before her, a little surprised that he had asked her this. They both hadn't talked to each other in a long while, or at least she would avoid him as much as possible, which was proving to be difficult. She was having better dreams since he came, she was laughing and smiling more than she had in a long time, and it just so much heartache for her to be away from him. But maybe this whole beach thing might help her settle things between them once and for all. She needed to tell Kuzon, that she did like him, a lot, but she couldn't be with anyone else.

Aang couldn't stand the silence; it was just eating him alive, until he heard one word, "Okay." The Monk's eyes shot open, and looked down at the Waterbender.

"Wha-what?" he asked dumbfounded at the answer.

Katara nodded, "Yes."

Aang sighed in a big relief, "Okay, good then." he smiled at her.

"Great." Katara said, not really knowing why she did?

"Wonderful." the Monk said, accidentally topping off her word.

"Okay." Katara, said again with a tiny laugh, and after one second of silence, she turned around and left confused at what just happened between them.

When she left, Aang put the wet towel over his face, and breathed in the luke warm air. The Airbender didn't know why it was so hard for him to ask her this question, it wasn't like a date or anything like that, but he may not get another chance to be alone with her after he tells her the truth. He hoped that it was going to be okay, but he knew it wasn't.

OooooOooooOoooo

The Monk decided to get ready for the night. He put his black long sleeve undershirt on, that had red stripes going down his arm, gray pants, and the long maroon belt as well, and his old Fire Nation headband to hide the tattoo for now. Aang knew he was going to have to prove to Katara that he wasn't lying, and he knew that if she saw his tattoos, then it would be enough. Aang then told Zuko where he was going, just in case he would need him, and headed down to the shores. When he got there, there was no one in sight, so he had plenty of time to practice.

Aang looked at a rock, pretending like its Katara, "So…Katara, what I wanted to tell you was, that I'm back, and I thought we could pick up where we left off...No, that's stupid." he said out loud to himself.

He tried again, "Katara, wow you look good. How about we go for a walk, oh by the way, it's me Aang…Oh yeah Airhead she'll go for that one." he said sarcastically to himself, and hitting his head on the rock in front of him.

"Katara, there's something I need to tell you. I'm in love with you. Not as Kuzon, but as Aang…No, no, no, no! That's a stupid ice breaker!"

The Monk continued this for those few hours he had left, trying to figure out how to tell her the truth, without hurting her. He was also walking around a lot, and didn't realize that he made a circled pathway. Aang stopped himself from going on in circles, and covered it up, before Katara could come. He then sat in the middle of where the circle was, and took out the betrothal necklace. _"This is it, I have to tell her."_ Aang said to himself, hoping it would give him the confidence to do…but it didn't. He then said a small prayer, asking for guidance, and the right words.

OooooOooooOoooo

Sokka was having absolutely no luck with Suki right now, even his amazingly good charms weren't working on her. Sokka looked around at the group; Zuko was still working on paper work from their last meeting, Mai was now throwing darts to the walls as she practiced her aiming, and Toph and Teo decided to play another round of Pai Sho before they would head off to bed, which meant another couple hours of game playing. The Boomerang guy hadn't seen Kuzon or his sister around for a little while, and he wondered if those two were becoming a thing? He remembered her sneaking outside, but he just ignored it, knowing that she would be fine on her own. In the beginning he would follow her when she snuck out, hoping she wasn't going to do something stupid, but she would just practice waterbending, or just look up at the night sky, which she did from time to time.

Sokka was getting tired of trying to figure out a way to please his fiancé, but it was of no use, until his brain finally hit an idea. _"I'll do my own laundry! Plus, everyone else's, and that'll help me out in the long run."_ Sokka thought to himself, smiling at his brilliant idea. He got up from the Gang, and went into his room. And as soon as he went in, he was slammed with his own odor; a mixture of hot mildew, and possibly a rotten egg? The Pony Tail guy didn't know how he was able to sleep through this stench, and lived the next day. This was probably why Suki _always_ asked him to go to her room, instead of his anytime they wanted to be alone. He quickly sucked in some clean air, and then went into his room fast. He grabbed everything he could see in the dark, and ran out the door, shutting the stinky room closed.

Sokka was sucking in the clean air around him, surprised that he even survived that. He then went into everyone's room, picking up some clothes here and there. Katara's room smelt the best for some reason, it was like a mixture of carnation flower, and rain, it definitely a very pleasant smell for him. The last room was Kuzon's, which he wasn't for sure if he should go in, but decided that since he had accepted him as a friend, he might as well show some gratitude towards him. The Boomerang guy was a little surprised at how huge Kuzon's room, and was a little bit jealous about it. Sokka left the clothes outside his door, and walked in.

He was very surprised that he kept his room so clean, even the bed was made, which he never saw in any other rooms, beside Zuko and Mai's, which he would never, ever, visit again. Sokka looked on the bed for clothes, but only found the pearl sword that Kuzon had. The young man looked around to make sure no one else was around, and took it out of its sheath. The sound of the sword echoed in the room, proving that was indeed sharp. Sokka put its lowest point of the sword, where the handle was, and balance it out on his two fingers. It was a perfectly balance piece of steel, and it was lighter than he had even imagined. He grasped the handle, and twisted the blade, letting the moon shine off of it. The he saw the blue worded inscription, _"A Great Swordsman is defined by his Creativity, Versatility, and Intelligence." _Sokka was a very surprised by those words, because it's exactly what Master Piandao once told him, after his first day of training.

"_Weird."_ he thought to himself, and put the sword back in its sheath. He then went on the other side of the bed, and had at long last found his shirts and pants. Sokka picked them up, and began walking out; until he heard something hit the floor. He looked back, and saw a piece of paper, that looked to have been folded up hundreds of times. The Boomerang Guy bent down, dropped the clothes, and picked up the letter. He knew it wasn't any of his business to be poking around into others people's things, and he swore to Katara and Suki that he would never touch someone else's things. Then, an idea struck him.

Sokka went over to the bed, and got the sword out, and began unfolding it slowly with it, so as to not damage it _and_ most importantly, not touch it. When he had at long last opened it all the way, he put the top of the blade on the ground, while still holding the sharp part of the weapon. He could see that some of the words were beginning to fade, due to the creases, but one word stood out. _Aang_.

The young man shook his head, thinking that it was some sort of trick in the light. But still, the first word, Aang, was there in black ink. He quickly skimmed over the letter quickly, and seeing a few more words like _life is over, Katara, Ozai, child's heart, hide tattoos, and Guru Pathik. _Suddenly, Sokka's rage began to build up inside of him. h\He hadn't even noticed it that he was bleeding from gripping the blade too hard, until he saw a red liquid dripping down next to the letter. Sokka clenched his jaw as he glanced at the letter one last time, with the last word _Aang, _before he ran out of the room with the sword in hand.

He ran as fast as he could to the small Library, with everyone still sitting in their usual spots. Everybody looked up at him, and saw the hostility in his eyes. "Where is Katara?" he yelled in fury.

"What? You need her to do _your_ laundry now?" Toph said sarcastically, with a small smile on her face.

But that only added more oil to the fire burning up inside of him. Sokka ran towards the Pai Sho table, raised the sword high, and slice the game and the wood underneath in half. His breathing was loud now, as he looked at his friends, who now seemed scared of him.

"Sokka, calm down!" Suki said getting up, but then Mai grabbed her hand, and made her sit back down.

"Where is Aang?" he said this time, knowing that he would be with Katara. Everyone made eye contact with each other, as they could _all_ see that he had at long last found out. "Where is that Airhead? Sokka shouted again, slicing at the empty chair, and then kicking it towards the diced up Pai Sho table.

No one actually knew where he went, except for Zuko. Aang had told him that he would be on the beach if he needed him, but, now it looks like the Monk will be needed _him_ now. Zuko knew he was going to continue destroying the Library until he found the out his whereabouts and possibly hurt someone else. Aang had told him that he was afraid to tell Sokka and Katara the truth, and now he could see why.

Zuko sighed, and said with a heavy heart, "He's at the beach…"

As soon as those words slipped out, Sokka ran out towards the back, hearing the footsteps of his friends behind him. When he got outside, he found Appa, and climbed up on him, and yelled, "Yip Yip!" The Bison roared, lifted its tail up, and began to fly. When the rest of the Gang got there, Sokka had just barely left the ground before they could reach Appa.

"We have to get to Aang!" Toph shouted, knowing that this was on everyone's mind.

"But how are we going to get their in time, before he kills Aang?" Suki said. Afraid of what Sokka was going to do to his friend.

Toph glanced over at the Fire Lord, "So, remember how you didn't want me Earthbending in your Kingdom?" she asked rhetorically, "I think we can make an exception to this rule, don't you think?"

Zuko didn't like the idea of his people waking up to broken roads and houses, but it was either that, or lose the Avatar. Without even realizing it, they all felt vibrations under their feet as Toph picked up a big square of dirt around them, and used the ground to move them, as if they were wheels underneath.

After a few seconds of speed being picked up, Zuko looked at his wife, and was surprised to see no confusion in her eyes, or Suki's either. "How did you two know that he was Aang?" the Fire Lord asked, jumping to conclusion that they seemed to know.

Mai looked over, "Whenever you hide something, you tend to talk in your sleep. You said Kuzon was Aang." she said, with a little irritation at him for not telling her.

Now, it was Teo's turn to ask, "How did you find out Suki?" he yelled over the loud sound of rocks that was flying all around them.

Suki almost lost her balance, but regained it back quickly, "Mai told me, when I asked her if she knew anything about Kuzon, and she flat out told me what Zuko said."

Zuko looked over at Mai, "Why the hell would you tell her?" he bellowed out, not meaning to take his anger out on his wife.

Then the Dagger Girl gave him a scary look, "Why the hell didn't _you_ tell me?" she said, pulling out her daggers, as if she was getting ready to fight.

"Enough!" Toph yelled, as she continued to try and pick up the speed a little, "You guys can play 'I Spy' later, but for now, we have a war that is about to start! And I definitely don't want to miss this!"

OooooOooooOoooo

Katara had at long last reached the beach side, where she found the young man sitting in the sand. The skies were clear and starry, with no moon to show unfortunately. She took one step towards him, and Kuzon instantly popped up, while putting something back into his pocket. The Waterbender continued walking towards him, and examining his outfit. The black shirt he wore seemed to cling onto his flesh, and showing off his amazing body. She had always wondered what it would look like underneath, and could see that he was a perfect size; not too big, or too skinny. His abs were more toned than she had imagined, and he even had some definition oh his chest too. He was by far the most gorgeous Firebender that she was going to ever meet. The Waterbender had been fighting for the last hour on deciding if she should stay in her Warrior's outfit, or change into the Fire Nations, and wished that she wore the Fire one now.

Finally, when Katara was about arms lengths away, she looked down at the sand, and then at his shoes. The young girl took a piece of her hair, and began twirling with her fingers.

Aang licked his lips nervously, and said, "I wasn't for sure if you were going to come tonight."

Katara followed his shoes, up to his pants, his chest, and then up into his gray eyes that still had purple bags underneath them. "Yeah." she said, and faked a laugh, "I said I would come, so…here I am." The dark skinned girl still continued to play with her hair, and bit the bottom of her lips. Her heart was just pounding at the flawless face before her, with the eyes of a captured storm. Katara's blue eyes darted back down to Kuzon's abdominals and seeing them flex when he breathed, which caused her cheeks to redden in the dark night.

"Kuzon I-" "Katara-" they both said their names at the same time, which made them both think of what happened on the submarines on the day of the Eclipse. They were both literally in the same position as last time, but to Katara, it wasn't the same. And just like last time, Aang told her to go first.

The Waterbender inhaled and exhaled, and looked up at the shaggy haired boy with a headband around his head. "Kuzon…" she began, trying to find the strength within herself, "Kuzon, I need you to promise me that you won't interrupt me, or that you will run off again. What I have to say needs to come out, and I _need_ your word that you will hear me out."

Now Aang wished that he had gone first, especially now that she was making him do this. The Airbender knew this was going to be something that he wasn't going to want to hear, but she deserved to tell him whatever she wanted to say to him. The Monk knew he had time, and he would hear her out. Aang nodded, without looking away from her captivating face that the Spirits worked so desperately hard on.

Katara closed her eyes, opened them back up, and said, "Everything that has gone on between us Kuzon, just seems so impossible for me to believe. When I first met you, I figured that the Spirit's sent you here to torture me, and it was, and still is, hard for me to be around you. I was constantly battling my feelings for you, and someone else that I have fallen in love with."

The Air Nomad clenched his jaw, not wanting to hear the Lover of her life, and he really did want to run away. However, he made her a promise not to, and decided that no matter what, he was going to go through with this.

Katara could tell that he was hurting from her telling him that she was in love with someone else, but he had been so wonderful to her, that he deserved to know her reasoning's. The Waterbender walked past Kuzon, and towards the water. When she got to the water, her boots began to immediately sink into the sand, with her back to the Firebender.

She crossed her arms, as her stomach began feeling sick, "Kuzon, have you ever lost someone that you truly loved before?" Aang decided to keep some space between them, since it was obviously what she needed, and thought about the answer. He had lost his people, Appa, Guru Pathik, and Katara when he chose to leave.

"In more ways than a person should ever have to go through." the Monk said in a rough voice, as his left hand went back into his pocket, and clutched the necklace.

The chocolate haired girl didn't look back when Kuzon answered, but continued talking to the ocean as she watched the tides. "Then you know that when you lose someone you love, it's hard to pick up the pieces of your life without them there. I lost my Mother, Kya, when I was but a child." Katara put her right hand up to her Mother's necklace, wishing that she had something more to of her.

"That was the hardest time in my life for me, and my family. I took it the hardest, because…" a tear ran down her cheek, but she pressed on anyways, "because I was the last one to ever see my Mother before we found that she had been burnt alive."

Without even thinking about it, Aang went over to her, and gently place both of his hands on her shoulders, so she knew that she didn't have to do this alone. This was the first time that Aang had ever heard this story before; it was not something that she was willing to talk about, especially after finding the killer of her Mom. He thought about asking Zuko and Sokka as to what happened, but he knew, she would tell him when the timing was right.

The Waterbender felt his warm hands on her shoulders, and thought about shaking them off, but they felt _so_ wonderful on her, and she was going to need him as she proceeded to the story. "I remember telling myself for a long time that I could have protected her. That _I_ could have fought back, but I listened to my Mom when she told me to get my father. I knew something was wrong, but I was just a child, and I was frightened by Yon Rha, the man who killed her. My Mother gave her life up, in order to protect the last Southern Waterbender…me." Katara said the last part in a whisper to him, as the tears still flowed through her. She then felt Kuzon's hands slip down her arm a little, as his body heat increased on her back.

Aang didn't know how to comfort her, but he decided to say something, "Your Mother was a brave woman, Katara. She showed great love when she chose to give her life up for yours. One in which, I believe, _any_ Mother would have made the same." When Aang said that, he instantly thought of the woman in the Earth Kingdom, Ursa. And how she told him that she sacrificed a lot in order to protect one of her children, and she didn't regret it either. He knew Kya didn't either.

The chocolate haired girl had heard many people tell her this over and over again, and none of them seemed to really matter to her. It was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who lost a Mother, which she learned from Zuko in the Earth Kingdom. But when Kuzon said those words, it seemed like he knew _exactly_ what she went through. She knew that he lost someone close to him very recently, and that it did indeed hurt him. The Waterbender allowed him to keep comforting her, as her tears flowed.

"She is someone I long to be like Kuzon, someone who is willing to give up their life in order to save a loved one." Katara knew she was getting off subject, but it was just how she felt. She hoped that if the time ever came, she would do the same for her own children, if she had any.

"When my Mother died, I had a huge void in my life. I was forced to grow up, and take responsibility of the house while my Father was off fighting the war. The hole in my life became bigger when he left, and I truly felt alone for the first time in my life. Even though I had my Gran Gran, and Sokka, I still didn't feel the love that I had needed for so long." The Waterbender looked up at sky, and began counting the stars, which was hard when her eyes were watery.

Aang hated seeing Katara reliving her past, and whenever she was hurting, he was feeling it too. He knew she was leaving out a lot more details, but he was happy that even as a stranger to her, she was willing to tell him anyways. The Monk desperately wanted to scream that he was back, but he let her continue, pulling her lightly into his chest, and smelling the Pink Carnation scented flower that bathed in her hair.

The blue eyed girl suddenly felt a hard chest on her back, and his heat was much stronger now. She needed to regain her self-control, but she decided to hold out for just a little while longer. Katara could feel his neck on her head, and he just felt so wonderful in his arms. She felt like she was back with Aang again, and just holding her and comforting her.

The blue eyed girl proceeded, "I never thought that after all of the pain and suffering I went through for years, that I would find the love that I had been looking for all of my life." she said with a smile, when she had found Aang. At first he was just a little kid to her, but over time, somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him. "He is also the most amazing Waterbender, perhaps better than I."

Instantly, Aang let go, and took a few steps back, as he tried to control himself. He didn't need to hear this, he didn't need to hear _Higen's _name. The Monk looked down at the sand, not sure how he was going to react to this. When Katara felt the heat slip away from her, she looked back at the blank faced Firebender. She then got her feet out of the sunken sand, and walked towards him with her arms still folded. Katara waited until Kuzon looked up at her, which he eventually did after a few minutes. Her hair was gently blowing towards him, forgetting how much he loved her long chocolate hair, and it was driving him crazy

The Waterbender knew that this was going to hurt him, and things were going to change between them. "He's also an amazing Firebender and Earthbender." she said, and then Kuzon's face showed confusion. "Also the last Airbender to ever live." Katara said at long last, happy to get this off of her chest.

The Monk looked at her with bewilderment, as if the words bounced off of him, and he wasn't sure if he heard correct. Aang took a few more steps back, and turned away from Katara as both of his hands went through his hair.

"What about Higen?" he said in a whisper.

The Waterbender could tell this was definitely taking a hold on Kuzon, and maybe he did have some strong feelings for her, but she had to make this stop. "Higen and I…he was there to comfort me when I needed him, and I still don't know why, even to this day, I said yes. But I think I was trying to fill the void in my heart once again, and that was wrong of me to do to a sweet guy like Higen. But, I know who I am really in love with." Katara proclaimed, and then Kuzon turned around.

Aang was desperately holding back his tears when he looked at her, and then he walked towards her, giving Katara very little space between them. "Who is this person you are talking about?" Aang asked. He wanted, no he _needed_ to hear his name. He needed to know that she still loved him, even after all of this time. The Airbender's heart was pounding hard against his chest, and the anxiety in him was killing him. Katara was a bit surprised by his boldness all of the sudden as they stood close together, and there didn't even seem to be any anger or a hint of jealousy in his eyes. In fact he almost seemed happy that he knew it wasn't him.

The Waterbender took a step back towards the water and said with much honesty, "Don't get me wrong Kuzon, I really do like you, and you have confused me on a number of levels with my emotions. And even though you have brought _life_ back into me again, and making me laugh more than I have in a while, it still wasn't enough. Kuzon…" she paused for a second to collect her thoughts, knowing that she was going to have to do this with Higen as well. The Water Girl could tell he was eating up at her every word, and still wanted to hear his name.

Katara sighed a little longer than necessary, and decided to close her eyes so as not to see his reaction. "I'm in love with…" she paused for a second. It had been so long since she actually said his name out loud, because she seemed to always curl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep sometimes. However, she had learned to control herself a little better, but it wasn't always easy still.

The Waterbender took a deep breath and said, "Aang. The Avatar I told you about." she finally said. And for one second she felt all of her pain and suffering go away, but it all came crumbling back down on her once again. Katara then felt the passionate outrage in herself, as she remember looking for him for so long, and every once in a while, she felt like she would wake up next to him. And that was what tortured her the most, was when she hallucinate in seeing Aang sleeping next to her when she woke up. The dark skinned girl would have continued thinking this, if Kuzon hadn't made a noise.

The Airbender could no longer hold back his tears of joy, or his small laughs that he let out. Aang put his hand on his knees, and could feel all of the broken pieces of his life being picked up as he hanged his head down. For so long he felt like he had been going through a massive storm, just like when he had gotten caught up in one when he ran away, and he was constantly drowning. Now, it felt like the sun had just come out, and immediately calmed the whirlwind of pain and suffering that was constantly thrown into his face. Aang looked up at Katara, and wiped his tears away, but they were now replaced with peaceful ones.

Katara didn't understand this reaction he was having; she would have figured that he would be devastated after hearing this, or even become angry again. But Kuzon reacted very differently by laughing a little and seeming happy?

The Airbender stood straight up, and ran to Katara. He wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a death squeeze almost while his right cheek laid on her soft hair. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear you say that." Aang said into her hair, not wanting to let her go. The dark skinned girl couldn't breathe at his bear hug, and this was _definitely _not the kind of reaction she expected at all.

"_What did he mean this is what he wanted to hear_?" Katara thought to herself, as she didn't hug him back, even though she loved the feel of his body on her. She somehow found the strength to push away from him, even though it ached to do it, she had to know why he was acting like this.

"Kuzon!" she yelled, maybe hoping he was deaf, "What are you doing? Didn't you hear what I said?"

Again Aang smiled, "I heard you loud and clear Katara. And I didn't know if I could have the strength to tell you this, but _now _I know I can!"

Now it was Katara's turn to give him a bewildered look as she starred at the young man a few feet from her, who just looked like a little kid that found out he's a bender.

The Waterbender placed her hands on her hips, and shrugged at him as she shook her head, "What are you talking about Kuzon?"

The Monk smile got bigger, "Katara I need to tell you something." he said, and grabbed her hands tightly so she couldn't slip away.

The Waterbender definitely did not get this guy. It was like everything she thought he was going to do; he was doing the _complete _opposite! His hands though felt so wonderful around hers, and it was driving her hysterical as her chills got worse and worse.

"Katara." he breathed on her, and making her eyes go to the back of her head, for a second, as he said her name. "I'm not who you think I am." he finally said, still with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" the Waterbender asked, feeling that the heat of their bodies had heighten now.

"Katara, it's me-" he said, but could still see confusion on her face, as if he was telling her that he was still Kuzon. But before he could say his own name, he heard it from above.

"I'm going to _kill_ you Aang!" Sokka yelled, and jumped off of Appa. Most of the time, Sokka wouldn't do this, due to his falling abilities, but he was ready to kill him.

Aang looked back at Katara, and saw the pain in her eyes when Sokka yelled his name. Within a split second he airbended her lightly away from him, now that she officially knew. Instantly, it felt like a comet had just hit him on the side, as him and Sokka both went tumbling through the sand and into the water. The Monk stood up, and Sokka began swinging with 'his' sword at Aang.

Sokka swung the weapon at the Monks stomach, which he dodged by stepping back and bending over a little while sucking in his stomach; however, he did cut his shirt and grazed against his skin a little. Aang felt the ocean splash onto his thin cut, and made it burn like fire, but his focus was now on the angry protective Brother. The Boomerang guy tried to stab him, but Aang bent back into a bridge, and kicked the sword up into the air. As soon as he straightened up, Sokka tackled him back into the water. The Water Guy started punching him in the face, and when a wave would come up, he would grab his black shirt, and push him down into it.

The salt water went straight up into Aang's nose and feeling the burning in his nose, causing him to cough. Again Sokka punched him in the face, and could taste the blood in the mouth, causing his lips to burn now. Aang's adrenaline was kicking in, and he knew that if he didn't do something, his friend was going to either drown or beat him to death. Sokka punched him one more time, and that was when the Monk had had enough. The Avatar sucked the water from underneath him, and shot it right at Sokka, sending him screaming high in the air and into the trees.

Aang got on all fours, and starting coughing out and spitting blood. The Monk closed his eyes, and felt huge vibrations coming towards him. When he opened his eyes, he saw the rest of the Gang running toward him and Katara. The Waterbender hadn't moved an inch from where she landed, and he could still see that she was still in shock. A wave hit him again, causing him to lose his balance and land on his side. Zuko ran to his friend, and helped him up. Mai and Suki went over to Katara, to make sure everything was okay with her. Aang put his arm around Zuko, and his entire weight on the side of the Firebender.

Toph ran up to Aang, "So what did I miss?" she said to the Fire Lord as proceeded to carrying Aang to the dry lands, and sat him on the ground. The Monk continued coughing, feeling the salt caught up in his nose, and still burning in his throat.

Teo rolled up behind Toph, and saw Aang, "Whoa!" he said, as he saw his bloodied lip and nose. The young Inventor also seemed to notice that Aang a small gash on his right middle eyebrow, and then Teo looked at Toph, "Yup, we definitely missed the fight Toph."

"Aww!" Toph yelled, but then her left ear twitched a little, and popped her head up higher. "Maybe we haven't." she said, pointing at the Water Warrior. Everyone looked up and saw Sokka running back towards the Monk, with tons of leafs and sticks sticking out of him.

"You're dead Avatar!" he yelled at the Airbender, but instead of getting ready for another fight, Aang just sat their ready to take another beating. However, Zuko tackled him, in order to protect Aang, even though he could easily take him down.

"Get off of me!" he yelled at the Fire Lord, who was still holding him back.

The Monk got up slowly, and looked up at his angry friend, and then he looked back over at Katara who was now standing up, and starring at him. Her face was unreadable, and that was what scared him the most. Sokka followed the Monks eyes to Katara, and went over toward her, and hugged her.

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to the Waterbender; all of the past, her strong feelings for him, the struggle of not wanting to kiss him, and the lying that he had been doing this whole time. Katara's body went limp, as she began to cry the same tears of losing Aang so long ago.

The Airbender didn't know what to say or do right now, as he felt his entire body shutting down. He fell to his knees and grabbed the sand, as he looked down. Sokka looked back at Aang, as he held his sister, and then looked at the sword that as only a few feet away and sticking up. Aang looked over at the sword, and then back at the two most important people in his life, who were now both angry and confused.

"You're lucky I didn't kill you with your own sword _Aang._" Sokka said, looking back over to the blade in the ground.

The Monk clenched his jaw, "Actually," he said with a thick voice, "it's not mine…it's yours."

Katara looked up at him, with her eyes blurry, "Kuzon?" she said, still not wanting to believe her own eyes, or ears.

Aang looked back at the woman he loved, and sighed at her. He took off his headband, to reveal the blue arrow underneath his hair. He heard her gasp, and then she covered up her mouth. Aang knew he needed to prove to her that he wasn't lying, so then rolled up his sleeves to reveal more long blue arrows to her.

Katara began to hyperventilate, and started scooting away from him. "Stay away from me!" she yelled at him.

Aang got up, and took some steps toward her, but Zuko grabbed his arm to stop him. "Katara, I was planning on telling you tonight-" Aang began, but he was cut off by the venomous voice he had never heard before in his life.

"Stop! Was this your way of torturing me? Or seeing how far I would go if you were someone else?" she screamed loud enough for all four Nations to hear. Then she stood up, slowly with her brothers help. Instantly the Monk felt all of his worst nightmares coming true, as he listened to her tears.

"After…after _everything_, you lied to me!" Katara shook her head at him, "I don't even know who you are anymore." she said quietly. The Waterbender looked around at all of the faces except Sokka's, who obviously just found this out, while everyone else's reaction was calm and not surprised at all.

"You _all_ knew about this, and you decided to keep it a secret?" Katara said and feeling even more betrayed by the ones who knew saw what Aang did to her. How he made her suffer every single day, with no sleep, waking nightmares, and times of her screaming his name in the dark, with constant tears of sorrow.

Her brother looked straight up at Suki, "You knew?" he asked without letting her talk, "How long?"

Suki looked over at Aang, as he stood their defenseless, and then back at her fiancé. "Yes…yes I did. I found out from Mai two days ago." she said with great sadness in her voice.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" he yelled at Suki, knowing that his true anger lied with Aang, but it was so easy to take it out on the ones closest to you.

"Sokka, it wasn't my place to tell you this. I knew Aang would eventually tell you both." she said back at him, in a calming tone.

"And if he didn't, how long were you going to let me _and_ Katara go on like this?" he bellowed out infuriatingly.

Suki began to tear up, as she could to see that no matter what she was going to say, he would throw it back in her face. She wouldn't have let it go on much longer, and she was planning on talking with Aang about it the next day, but it was obviously too late. She looked down at the sands, wishing the water could just wash away all of the damages that they had all caused in keeping Aang's a secret.

When Sokka looked at everyone else, he knew that he was only going to get angrier if they even talked. He then looked back at Aang, who just stood their paralyzed as he looked at Katara.

"If I _ever_" he said in a threatening voice, "see you come near Katara, think about her, or talk to her, I swear that I'll finish what I began. Avatar or no Avatar." Then Katara's brother picked his sister back up, and both began walking back to the Palace, hoping by some miracle it would help cool them off.

Aang fell back onto his knees, and began weeping, "What have I done?" he said thinking out loud, and then looked up at all of his friends who had stuck it out for him. They had all kept him a secret from the ones he truly cared about and they, particularly Suki, were going to pay for his mistakes. Now the Monk wished that he had told them all when he got back, but it was a choice that was the past, and now he would live with the consequences.

"You should all go." Aang said, not wanting to see their faces anymore.

"Aang-" Zuko said, as he bent, but the Monk stood up.

"No! You have all done _enough_ for me, and now I need you go to them, and tell them that I asked you to do this for me." The Airbender said stumbling through each word, and not looking up at them. "Tell them the truth, about me, and how you found out. Whatever I say to them, they won't listen, and I don't want you to defend me. You have all lived without me long enough to grow strong and depend on each others honesty and comfort…and now, they will need you again. I have given you all enough pain to last me a lifetime, so please, _please_ don't defend for me like I'm one of you."

Everyone looked around each other, and started to object that he was still indeed one of them. But the Monk stopped them, and told them not to do defend him it at _all_. The Gang knew he was going to keep arguing with him, so they all nodded very slowly to his orders. They then turned around and began walking back, but Teo and Toph stayed behind for a second.

"Are you leaving again Aang?" she said in an afflicted tone, not wanting to lose her best friend again.

The Air Nomad turned away from them, and sat starring at the sea. And without looking at them, he said "No. I have made this mess, and I'll suffer _whatever_ comes my way. I can't ever run again…especially with the world as it is." he said. Aang meant that too, but he wanted to fix this with Katara and Sokka, because they had been with him since they learned he was the Avatar, and now he would just have to give them time for now.

"Tell Zuko, if he needs me, I'll be staying down here at the beach for a couple of nights." the Monk said, and pulled his feet into his chest.

Toph didn't say anything as she could see he needed to be alone now, to hopefully think of something. She started heading back to the Palace with Teo behind her, but Teo stopped again and said one last thing to Aang.

"You haven't lost them Aang, they just need time. And whenever, or whatever you need from us, your friends will always be by your side. So don't push us away, and don't give up on us." Teo said, hoping it would help him somehow. Then the young couple went off to catch up with the others, who were completely silent.

The Air Nomad sat in silence with Appa by his side, who seemed to be the only person who didn't want to beat him up or kill him for long mysterious disappearance. Aang was waiting for the Demon to arise at any time; he was ready to fight him until he would vanish forever out of him, but as always, he never came when he wanted him to. The Monk looked out at the horizon, and then back to the left where Sokka's sword was, as it managed to sink a little lower into the sand. He walked over, and pulled it out with ease, as he walked back to his spot where Appa was. The tears had not stopped of the past couple of hours as he looked back at the past two weeks, wondering if Sokka and Katara would have reacted differently if he told them sooner. But, he knew that they still would have done the same thing. Katara would still be in a lot of shock with fire and pain burning up inside of her, and Sokka would still have gone into his brother mode and attacked him. He wasn't mad at him for beating him to death, because if someone had hurt Katara, like he did, he would have shown the true meaning of suffering.

Aang looked back down at his cut shirt where the stomach was, and decided that he needed to clean it again if he didn't want an infection. He knew Katara wasn't going to be healing, or going anywhere near him anytime soon. The Monk walked over towards the shores, and fell to his knees as the water came crashing at him. He took a giant handful of salt water, and poured it on his stomach. The pain was twice as bad as the last time, but it needed to be done now. He took off his shirt, and shoes, and went into the ice cold ocean, feeling a sense of happiness that he no longer had to hide who he was, but that feeling vanished away quickly. He took a deep breath and went under water, as the salt began doing its work on his cut up face and lip. When the burning had finally stopped, he came back up and breathed the warm night. He loved that the ocean had at one point made him so cold, that his body went numb and he couldn't feel anything…no pain, or heartache.

Aang walked back towards Appa, with his clothes in his hand, and airbended himself dry, as he went to the back of his Bison's tail, and laid on the soft fur. Aang put his left hand in his pocket, and felt the necklace, recalling all of the times he depended on it to keep him going…and now, it didn't have the same effect. He let go of it, and tried to sleep, knowing it was completely useless as the images of Katara and Sokka's faces played over and over in his head. And then fresh tears started to make his face wet, as he just lied there, looking up at the clear night sky.

**Wow, so it FINALLY happened! It all came out at long last., with a few more people knowing of his identity. Not the way Aang was hoping for at ALL! Kinda sucks when you want to tell the truth to someone, and when you finally tell them, they find out from someone else, and that's what hurts a lot. You can tell that at first Katara doesn't know how to react, especially after finding out that she JUST told him that she still loved him. And THEN she finds out about him this way. Yipes.**

**So, now that part of the drama is gone, what's gonna happen now? Will Katara tell Higen, like she was planning to? Will she use Higen in order to make Aang suffer? Will Sokka continue to try and beat him up, or will things work out after him fighting Aang? I've got some fun ideas out there in the next few chapters, which I hope you will enjoy. Anywho, you guys know what to do next! I hope to read your reviews, and comments about this chapter now that the cat is outta the bag!**

**Peace and Love Avatar Fans!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so first off, thank you guys for your Reviews and emails. You have all been awesome on telling me what you think and what you don't like, and even ask questions. I hope I have done well in answering them to my best ability or when I write a new chapter. Sorry that it took me a while to write this, I was distracted a lot :/**

**Again, I apologize AHEAD of time for my spelling and grammar. Me and my compute can only catch so many mistakes =( Anyways, I don't own anything of Avatar. Enjoy**

Aang had spent about a week living on the beach, and only going back up to the Palace to eat, and gather his stuff. On the first night the Monk had found the letter on the floor from Guru Pathik that was next to a little bit of dried up blood, which he guessed was Sokka's. Zuko had told him that he found out who he was through this piece of paper, which held his past and perhaps even somehow holds the key to his future as well. As Aang thought about it when he got back to the beach that night, he guessed that Sokka didn't really read it at all, since he beat him up pretty badly. And if this was true, it also meant they both still didn't know _everything _that was written on that letter. It was a long shot in thinking this, but it seemed plausible too.

The Fire Lord had told him that the first two nights were constant fighting between the Gang and the siblings, as well as with Sokka and his fiancé. Aang was happy to learn that after about 3 days of not talking to each other, and staying in separate rooms, Sokka had finally forgiven her. From what the group said, he had even apologized for yelling at her, and he wanted nothing more than for her to come back into his life again. It was like trying to keep the oil of a fire from not burning, it was just something that was impossible.

Toph said that after that night, she was willing to sleep with Appa if it meant not hearing the noise and vibrations that roamed throughout those halls.

That next day after Toph's declaration, Aang had forgotten his Air Nomad clothes and went back to get them. When he exited out of the Princes room, he saw Katara walking side-by-side with Suki, smiling a little bit with her. But when she looked at Aang from a distance her smile faded when they locked eyes, and gave him an unreadable face disappeared around the corner…the same one when she found out about his lies. And that was the last he had seen her, but Sokka was always there to give him threatening looks.

Aang, however, was happy that Katara had forgiven Suki and the rest of the group once they told them of all that had happened the last few weeks. But from what he had heard, Katara barely came out of her own room for the first week. Toph told him that she could still hear her crying, and then the room would go silent as she would sleep. The Earthbender had been keeping tabs on her, just as Aang asked, and making sure that all was well. And then after another few days, she was out and about, but still seemed to be slowly realizing that it was all true. The Monk wondered if he could ever fix this problem that he had caused, or if he would get a chance to tell them his side of the story, but there was no point when he would only say what the Gang said.

The Demon inside of him was fighting him every few hours as he lived on that beach, and It would hit him hard enough to cause him to yell out in pain, and then the Demon's laugh would echo through his body. When the Spirit wasn't attacking him, he ended up having a lot of time on his hands to think, and play around with the kids. Aang would hide his tattoos so that he could at least _act_ like a normal kid, and just have fun with them.

They also had a new game to play, which was called Fireball. Pretty much you have a small ball on fire, with four thin rocks that formed into a diamond shape, and you would use a stick and light it on fire too. The whole point of scoring was to hit the ball when it was thrown to you, and bring your team around all of the four squares. And if you wanted to get them out, you could either catch it, throw it to your teammate on the base before the other team touched the bag or if you swung three times and missed the fireball. Then there was dodge ball dragon, hot bomb, which would explode in your face if you held it last, P.O.W. mud-o-war, which included no Firebending, and many other games that he had enjoyed.

He would spend hours, if not all day, playing with kids younger and older than him; happy to know that they could live in peace…at least while they still could due to this rebellion forming. Aang would try to sleep, but his nightmares were back, however it was nothing like his 'supposed' premonition. The Airbender had been spending a lot of time in the Spirit World as well, and talking to Roku a lot. Unfortunately, Guru Pathik and Monk Gyatso still wouldn't come when he needed them to, and that the only people he could really call on were the past Avatar's. He told them of what was happening, and Roku told him that the Spirits of this world could see that things were about to change, and that Aang should prepare himself for this new army.

"Avatar Aang?" General Iroh asked the Air Nomad while he continued to stare out in a daze at the map on the table.

The Airbender popped his head up from his fingers, and looked at the General and all of the other leaders of the Nation. Aang shook his head, "I'm so sorry about that, umm, what is it that you said General Iroh?"

"Avatar Aang, we can take a break if you would like?" he said, seeing that Airbender was very tired.

"No." Aang said apologetically as he shook his head, "No, please continue."

The White Lotus Firebender looked at the Avatar, and could tell he had a lot on his mind. Especially now that his friends found out about him being himself, but it apparently wasn't how he had planned it. Normally Katara would sit next to the empty Air Nomads chair, but now Higen sat there, with Sokka, his father, and then Katara at the end with Suki to her left. Not once did she look at Aang, as her complete focus was on the map in front of her. Zuko had mentioned that there was going to be tension at the table, and if Iroh had made just a little fire in his hands, their emotions would explode the entire room.

Iroh looked back at the Avatar, seeing his wounds healing on his face, "I said," he began, "for the past month, things have been getting worse. Supplies, cargoes, animals, and even weapons are being stolen everyday with no one stepping out. This Rebellion isn't going to stop until they have enough for their army."

Aang looked down at the map, and saw the many marks in every nation where this group was hitting. The Monk put his elbows on the arms of the chair and leaned back, in his chair. "What are the casualties now?" he asked looking at everyone, and then looked back at Katara, to only get an evil look from Sokka.

Chief Hakoda spoke, "Well they haven't been attacking us that much recently, but we have heard reports of them going to Whale Tail Island a few times, but they are just rumors." He said looking at Aang with great respect, and didn't seem angry at him for what he did to his daughter. But then again, he was probably bluffing it out until everyone was out, and then he would kill him with his own bare hands.

The Air Nomad looked at Higen, who nodded and said, "Our report is the same as last time. A few strong benders have been taken away, along with a clothing and food."

Aang nodded again, as he tried to think of a solution, and then looked at King Kuei. He leaned forward to look at Aang, "We were able to capture one man when they came back again, but when he saw that he was surrounded he tossed something into his mouth. The next thing my soldiers knew, he was coughing out blood, saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'"

The Monk sighed at this, seeing that this was exactly what happened last time with Zuko, when his men found the traitor. The Fire Lord didn't have to give his report to him, because he had already known. He found out that many of his soldiers were knocked out, and then dragged to the shores unnoticed. They always seemed to come out at night, which made it harder to catch any of them. The Airbender looked down at his Air Nomads necklace that he now wore, and then at his gold and red thick clothing. He wished it was much lighter on him, but he knew that he needed to represent his people…even if he was the last Airbender.

"What about small towns?" Aang asked everyone.

But they all shook their heads, telling him that they never seemed to bother anyone. This made the Monk a little suspicious at this, as all of the small towns knew of the Rebellion, but proclaimed that they didn't see anything or anyone. Either these guys were invisible, far faster than him, or someone was helping them. They had too many theories, and not enough facts. It was like he needed to go out there and see what was really going. He knew that if his presence was known to the Rebellions, as he traveled around on Appa, it would perhaps make them want to come out, and try to fight him. It would give him the perfect opportunity for them to try and capture him, take him as a prisoner, and find out who the true leader was. Or if they did find this group, he could blend in and perhaps find out who was leading them; he could also capture one and get him to talk somehow without them killing themselves before. Aang had been thinking about this a lot on the beach and it seemed like the only solution. The men and women before him could only do so much, but the Avatar could do more to help.

Aang stood up at the seated leaders of the Nations and said, "We have no answers. We are drawing straws while our enemies are growing stronger as they continue to prey on us." The Monk placed his hands of the table and leaned over, "If we do not act soon, there will be a war to come our way…one in which we may not win if we don't know who or what we are dealing with."

Toph put her feet up on the table, "You got a mastered plan Twinkle Toes?" she asked as she continued to look across the table where Zuko and Mai sat. Aang looked over at Toph when she said his nickname, happy to be called it once again, even if it was in the middle of a Nations meeting.

"It is not a _mastered_ idea, but I think it is something that _I_ can do." Suddenly everyone turned his way as they looked at him curiously, even Sokka and Katara were paying attention now.

The Monk stood up straight, and finally said, "I have to go looking for them myself. I'm the Avatar, which means if people see me, then it's possible that the rumors will flow to the ears of the Rebellions. And it may give us an opportunity that we have needed for months now."

The room remained silent for some time as everyone thought about this. And then Iroh spoke, "Use bait to bring out the enemy…it's a very dangerous risk young Avatar. One in which I'm not quite sure would work. If you are captured, they may kill you, or they will kill you on sight."

Aang nodded, "I know General Iroh, but I believe that they would want to _use_ me if they captured me. Which means I'll be taken to their leader possibly, and even learn their locations as well. What better way to win a war, than to use the Avatar as weapon?"

It was now Zuko's turn to speak, "How would they be able to use you?"

"Whoever seems to be doing this has learned to control them. I'm not saying that Hama isn't responsible for this, but since I have learned about the Dai Li Agents who have gone missing; it is possible that they are brain washing the other benders to their side." Aang concluded. Again it was just in theory, but it seemed to kind of fit.

Instantly, the Gang thought of Joo Dee and Jet, and how if someone said certain words, then that person would be under complete control of the leader. They would do whatever they said without question, or hesitation. And if this was true, then things were only going to get much worse in the many months to come. However, Aang had learned that you can bring someone out the hypnosis if they are reminded of a strong memory. It was a long shot, but there might be hope.

Iroh spoke again, as he messed with his pointy goatee, "Avatar Aang, what you are asking to do is highly dangerous. I don't know if we can agree that you go alone on this, it seems too difficult to pull on your own."

Aang actually didn't know how he was going to be able to, but he had to do something. "General Iroh, I appreciate your well being for me, but I just can't stand around here and do nothing. It is my duty to protect the people of these Nations, as well as the people whom I have had the greatest honor in fighting with." he said, as he looked around at his friends at the table. "I must do this. It could be one of our best shots at finding the enemy, or perhaps even a weakness."

Again the room was silent as they realized that they were running out of ideas, and unfortunately, this seemed like the best move. It was a suicide move, but none the less, they all knew that Aang was going to do this with or without their permission. The Gang looked at each other, as if they were sending secret messages to each other. They didn't want Aang to leave again, at least not without them.

Even though the Earthbender couldn't see what was going on, she knew that they were all thinking what she was. Toph then stood up, as everyone looked at her. "You're going to need the Blind Bandit if you want to accomplish this." she said with a smile on her face.

Everyone's mouth dropped slightly, except Aang's. He crossed his arms, "I can't allow that Toph. It's too dangerous."

The Blind Girls laughed as it echoed through the room, "If it's anything like we have faced before, then it'll be a walk in the park for me." she said with much confidence in herself. "Plus, you are going to need my help with people who are going to lie Twinkle Toes, and I still think your Earthbending and Metalbending could use more practice too." Toph added, letting him know she wasn't going to back out of this.

Aang exhaled heavily, not wanting his friend to be in danger with him. And she knew that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park at all, but he could see that she was going whether he liked it or not, just like he was. With or without the permission of the Nations, he was going, knowing full well that something bad might happen to him.

Then Teo spoke up, "I'm in too. I may be a cripple, but I can still fight. Besides, I'm _really_ good at taking advantage when I've got a blind girl next to me." he said with a smile as he looked up at Toph.

The Monk was definitely going to protest to Teo even though he liked him, but Zuko stood up too. "I'll go too. My people are suffering, and it's my duty as well to protect them. Besides, it's been a while since I have been out of the Fire Nation, it's time we see how the world is doing."

Mai stood next to her husband, and held his hand. "Finally, something to do." she said with no emotion, while spinning the small dagger around her free index finger.

Aang looked up at his small team that was assembling around him, knowing full and well that they weren't going to let him go out into the world alone again. He lightly bowed his head at them, and waited a few more seconds to see if anyone else would join.

Then Suki got up too, "I think Avatar Kyoshi would want me to do this, and it would honor me if you would allow me to join you Aang. You may need me when it comes to stealth." she said, not wanting to ask Sokka's permission.

The Airbender nodded towards her, and again waited to see if others wanted to join. But after a minute of silence Aang clenched his jaws, seeing that Katara or Sokka weren't willing to join in after all. Maybe things would never be the same again.

Iroh looked at the young Heroes who had already sacrificed so much to save the world from Ozai, and now, they are willing to do it again. The General looked at the rest of the White Lotus, and they each agreed to this. Iroh didn't like this idea, but at the same time it was the only move that they had left. They couldn't just keep doubling up guards, and hope that somehow they were going to catch these Rebellions. Something had to be done.

Iroh looked back at the young group, and then back at the Water Tribe. Sokka and Katara both had their heads down, not wanting to volunteer for this dangerous mission. Iroh could tell that they wanted to go, but they were still mad with Aang, and Katara barely even looked at him during the entire meeting. He hated seeing love like theirs be torn to pieces.

Iroh cleared his throat a little, "If this is the agreement of this meeting, then the rest of us will do what we can in order to help you and your friends. It will be difficult to stay in contact with you, so send us a hawk two times a month on your progress, and I will let everyone know as well. This meeting is over." he said, and everyone began moving around.

Aang eyes went towards Katara and Sokka, but her brother looked at him and shook his head as he escorted his sister and Suki out. The Monk heard Zuko talking to Iroh walking and talking about his Uncle taking care of his people while he was gone. Toph and Teo seemed pretty excited about this adventure they were going to have.

Once everyone left the room, Aang remained there, and sat back in his seat. He rubbed his temples, wishing that his friends didn't volunteer for this mission of his. He had been gone long enough, and it was _his_ responsibility to the world, and his friends, to protect them. The Airbender was happy about not going alone, but afraid for their lives, and wondered if he was being selfish for letting them do this.

The Monk looked up from his seat, and saw a tall figured man in front of him; with a Water Tribe outfit. Aang knew this great man very well, one in whom he wished that he didn't know now. Chief Hakoda walked over to Aang in silence and took the seat where Higen did sit, and looked at the Monk.

Aang was afraid of Sokka for what he did to him on the night of the beach, and he knew that the father was actually going to succeed in killing him now. They both sat there with minutes passing by as Chief Hakoda looked at the young man, who seemed to be sweating a little. To the Airbender, it was like he was trying to decipher something written on his face, or even his soul. This was one of the most uncomfortable situations that he had ever been in, and the suspense was eating him up alive as the Father didn't move.

"I wonder if this is what I looked like?" the Chief said and then he leaned back on the seat to give them both some space.

Aang cocked his head a little, "Look like what, sir?" he said nervously.

"When I first saw Katara and Sokka. After so long of being at war, I see them again, and I wonder if I looked worse than you." the Chief said. "I can tell by your face that you went through a great deal when you left my daughter and son, and that you're tortured when you look at Katara."

The Airbender was still waiting for him to pull out a knife, and cut him into small pieces to feed the fish with. But he seemed extremely calm, for a man who watched his daughter get hurt by him. Whatever was about to come from her Dad, he was going to deserve it.

"I didn't know what I would do if I ever saw you again, Avatar Aang. But now…now I can see that you sacrificed much, and it has scarred you in the same way as Katara."

Aang clenched his jaw, "If you are going to ask me to stay away from your daughter, then you don't have to worry about that." he said, with the adrenaline pumping through him. "I know things have changed, but I _swear_ that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt Katara."

The Chief nodded very slowly, and said, "Neither did I."

"What are you talking about?"

"Aang, don't get me wrong, I do hate you for what you did to Katara. There were so many nights I would hear her cry, and there wasn't a thing I could do as I listened to her. It broke my heart to see her in that state, and at one point I wanted to kill you. Make you feel her pain."

"_And there it is."_ Aang thought to himself, afraid to move in front of the Chief.

"However, I would be a hypocrite if I wanted to do to you, what I did to Katara and Sokka." the Chief said, and could still see the confused look on the Airbender's face.

"Before I left my children, I was already going through so much with trying to take care of my kids, and luckily my Mom, Gran Gran, was there to help. But I was still suffering from losing Kya so many years ago, and I know my kids, especially Katara, took it harder than I did. When I found out about the war brewing, I just _had_ to do something. So I left to protect my family, as well as my tribe, but I did it out of selfish reasons too."

The Monk couldn't believe the confession that Katara's father was telling him, but it seemed like they both went through the same things almost. Aang had decided to stay when the Avatar's told him no to, but he chose to stay because he wanted to be with Katara and his friends; her Father went to war to protect them, but also because he was he couldn't stay.

"There were so many nights and days when I couldn't sleep, or lead my men because every single second, I would think of them. Everything that I did, or saw out on the ocean, reminded me of my kids. The night time was the hardest for me, because I would lie there awake and think of them so much that it would ache. I never realized how much I had until I left, and everything that was in Kya was in my kids. I was too blind to see it…to see that I caused them more pain when I left them."

Aang remembered when he first met Katara's father, she was very sore towards him, and was constantly correcting him on things. She had told him that nothing was wrong, but just about anyone could tell she had bad terms with her father.

"Why are you telling me this Chief Hakoda?" Aang asked

The father looked at him, "I can tell that you still love my daughter. And I believe that you wouldn't have left her, unless there was a good reason. You haven't slept in what looks like months, and I see the way you look at her. Aang, the only thing I am going to leave you with is this; don't make my same mistakes. Katara is my only value of this world, as well as Sokka, fix it before it is too late."

The Monk nodded very slowly, "Sir, I don't think I will ever be able to fix this situation. They both already hate me and Katara…" he said, and stopped. Aang looked away from her fathers face, wishing that things could have been different. He still would have left no matter what, but he would have gone sooner, and left on better terms.

Suddenly the Airbender felt a strong hand on his left shoulder, and when he looked back, the blue eyes Dad was giving him a warm smile. "Give her time. And as for Sokka, well he still considers you his best friend still, which is a good sign. And from what I can tell, he has already given you a beating, so I'd say your odds are good with my son."

"And Katara?" Aang asked, hoping for some kind of good news.

The Chief took a deep breath and exhaled, "As much as I want to tell you to stay away from my daughter, Sokka has already done what I would have done to you, but I have come to like you as well. I know that she can take care of herself. She is sixteen now; a grown woman, who knows exactly what and who she wants out of her life."

OooooOooooOoooo

Sokka was lying on his bed, and looking up at the ceiling as his mind raced through everything that went on in the meeting today. Aang had decided to play 'Avatar' all of the sudden, and the rest of the Gang, besides him and Katara, were ready and willing to go with him. After _everything_ he did, they still wanted to be by his side in finding these benders. Sokka had argued with Suki as she packed up her things; and she still ended up winning it somehow. She kissed him on the cheek, and told him to keep himself safe while she was gone. Once she walked out of those doors, Sokka felt like he should go after her, and convince her otherwise; however, after spending so much time with his fiancé, he learned that when a woman makes a decision, it's final. No matter what he said, or did, she was going with Aang.

A knock was at the door. Sokka looked up and he saw his sister leaning against the door frame. She looked like she could use some more sleep as she stood there, and walked in to sit on the edge of his bed. She pulled her knees into her chest, and sat in silence with her brother.

"So how did it go with Higen?" Sokka asked, "Did he take it well?"

Katara was silent for a few minutes, but nodded at him, "In a way. He unfortunately proposed to me."

Sokka's eyes got big, and when he looked down at her necklace, he could still see his Mom's betrothal still there. He sighed in relief, "Guessing you said no?" he asked. He liked Higen, but he knew that he sister didn't feel the same way about him. And Sokka wasn't going to let her make a stupid mistake like that, when it came to marriage.

"…yea." was all Katara could say as her eyes started to tear up.

Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, "Are _you_ okay?"

The Waterbender looked back at her brother, and gave him a lying smile and said, "For now."

Sokka grunted with a grin, "Pity…you could have _really_ messed with Aang." he said, and then kind of laughed at what he said to the idea. Katara smiled at his joke, knowing he meant it.

The Waterbender decided to change the subject, "The house is so quiet with everyone gone…I never thought I would _want_ to invite the noise back in." Katara said, as she looked at her brother.

Sokka turned towards her on the bed, "I know what you mean. I never thought that Suki would actually go, or that any of them would travel with Aang in a heart beat. Some friends." he said, pulling his eyebrows in. "However, he needs them on this mission..."

The Waterbender looked at her brother with teary eyes, "And we need them too…" she said, knowing that Sokka was thinking about leaving.

"I know we do." he said, and shook his head. "Are you ready then?"

Katara looked up at her brother, "You're telling me that you would actually go?"

Her Brother laughed through his nose, "As much as I'd hate to say it, I would. They are going to need a guy like me who can read maps, and give them the best jokes ever!" he said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Katara looked back down at the wooden floor, not understanding why he would go. She knew he was going for Suki, but she figured that Sokka, of all people, would stay with her. When Aang left her, the only other person she could depend on was her brother. He was always there for her when she needed him, and now, he was going with Aang and the rest of them. She knew if her brother went, then she would too…she didn't need to lose more family.

The blue eyed girl looked back with a gently smile, "Just like you once told me before, you won't turn you back on me, and neither will I. If you go, then so do I." she said. And immediately regretted those words, even though they were true, there was going to be a certain Airbender whom she wasn't ready to be around just yet.

Sokka smiled, "Let's go then!" he said standing up with his right arm pointing to the ceiling. He jumped off of the bed, but got caught by the sheets and fell onto the floor and knocking the wind out of him. Now it was Katara's turn to laugh at her brother.

"What are you laughing about?" he said, slowly getting out of the untangled sheets.

"Oh, something about Aunt Wu saying that you would be in pain and anguish, but most of it would be self-inflicted." she said, smiling at her tangled up brother on the ground.

Sokka started mumbling about her in irritation, as he finally got out of the sheets. He bent down underneath his bed, and pulled out his sleeping bag and pack of clothes.

Katara raised an eyebrow at him, "I see you were already ready, huh?"

Sokka shrugged at his little sister, and said, "You can never be too prepared." And then he started to walk out of the room.

"Sokka?" Katara asked before her brother left to go into her room, and get help her pack. When he turned around, she asked, "Were you trying to kill Aang when you found out that he was 'Kuzon'?" The Waterbender remembered him swinging violently towards the Air Nomad, and seemed to recall him cutting at his stomach.

Her Brother gave her a crooked smile, "Yes and no. I knew he could take care of himself, but I had to make it _look_ and _feel _real enough. He deserved it for what he did to you, but at the same time, I just couldn't. Aang is still my friend…even if I do want to kill him sometimes."

Katara smiled back a little at her brother, hoping that what she was about to do wasn't a mistake. She knew that their people were missing, and it was her and her brother's job to protect their village as well. They all seemed to have a motive of protecting everyone.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang was putting the last bit of things onto Appa, and looked up at the setting sun. It had been a long day with the meeting, and then immediately getting ready to go. The Monk didn't want to waste any more time with the enemy that was out there, killing and stealing Benders. It was time that the world knew about his return once again, but he was happy that he wasn't alone. Aang didn't know where to start, but he figured that they could revisit some places along the way.

The Monk jumped onto the Bison's head, and looked back at his friends. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? This is a dangerous mission, possibly more dangerous than anything you have ever done."

Toph yawned at him, "If that is the end of your speech, can we get a move on it? I think dagger girl and Flameo are ready to kick some serious butt right now."

Aang gave them all a very happy smile, as he realized that no matter what he said was going to change their minds. Something he needs to learn quickly. The Monk turned around on the Appa's head and grabbed the reigns, ready to say his two favorite words, until someone else stepped in.

"You're going to need us if you are planning on going around the world again." Sokka said, crossing his arm at the Airbender who looked at him with a confused and yet gleaming face.

Suki jumped off of Appa, and ran towards her fiancé as she embraced him. "I was hoping you would change your mind." she said, and kissed him passionately. Once Suki had had enough of making out in front of everyone, she looked at Katara. The Kyoshi Warrior knew that Katara was still mad at her for lying, but Suki gave her a nod, letting her know that she was happy to have the Waterbender come along with them.

The Avatar airbended himself off of Appa's head, with a sword slung on his back, and walked over to Sokka. The Monk took the pearl sword off of his shoulder, and held it out with one to Sokka. Suki moved to his left side, so the he could see Aang.

The Boomerang Guy looked at the Avatar, and then at the sword. He had been needing a new one for quite some time now, and he did like the blade…a lot. Especially with the blue inscription of what his Master taught him so long ago.

Sokka took a few seconds to think, but grabbed the sword, and pointed the handle back at him. "This doesn't change anything between us Air Boy." he said. He knew the Monk wanted to make peace, but it was going to take a lot more for him to earn his trust again.

Aang nodded once, "I hope to work on it then." he said. Then the engaged couple walked past Aang, to put their stuff up. When he looked back, he saw Katara standing there with her things in her hand. The Airbender walked to her and was about to grab her stuff, out of routine, but she shook her head at him.

"I don't need your help." she said with anger behind her voice, "And the only reason I'm going, is because my people need me. Plus, I'm the only healer in this group, and I don't need a guilty conscious if I didn't go."

Katara didn't know why she was telling him this, since he didn't say one word to her, and yet she was giving him the reasons she was going. She hated that she was acting like this around him, but the anger inside was talking for her.

The Air Nomad clenched his jaw, and took a few steps back from the hurt Waterbender. "Okay, Katara. You're right, but for what it's worth, I am glad you are coming…even if you still hate me." he said.

The dark skinned girl looked up at the tall Avatar before her. He was back into the outfit that she once made for him, with a combination of Fire Nation and Air Nomads. He had grown up so much in the last year and half, but he still seemed to be a little kid when he wanted to be. For the past few days, she had known of him playing with kids in the city, and she would watch him play. He became that young little boy that she found in that ice berg, the one that went penguin sledding with her, and ended up showing her that it was still okay to have fun. But right now she was in too much pain to even consider telling him her feelings for him, even though he already knew. And yet, not once, did he repeat what she said to him that night, when she was telling Aang exactly what he wanted to hear.

The Airbender gave her small crooked smile, and walked away from the heartbroken girl, who seemed to truly hate him. He didn't want her to feel this way, and he was going to do his best to make it as painless as possible. Aang was going to give Sokka and Katara as much space as they wanted, until they were willing and ready. And if they ever did forgive him, he would spend the rest of his life making it up to them. He was still willing to give his life for them, for his family.

Once Katara got up onto Appa's saddle, Aang jumped back onto his Spirit Guides head. He turned one more, as he looked back at the _entire_ Gang behind him, willing and ready to defend the world. Aang eyed the purple and pink skies as the sun was touching down on the horizon. Momo flew right onto the Airbender's shoulder, and wrapped his soft tail around his neck.

He grabbed the reigns again, and said, "Appa, yip yip!" And together they all flew into the night sky, ready to take on the world yet again.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang and Teo had been flying for a few hours next to Appa, because his Bison could only carry so many people without getting exhausted. Meanwhile, the rest of the Gang put their heads together of where to begin. Sokka and Zuko were pouring over the map in front of them, giving suggestions, while the rest of them gave their opinions. Truth be told, Aang wasn't for sure where to start exactly. But, it needed to be somewhere close by to the Fire Nation, especially since Appa gets more tired easily, and it was best not to go over water during the night time.

The Monk just couldn't stop looking at Katara, as she sat next to Suki who had her arm around Sokka's waist. He was truly happy that they worked everything out between them, even though Katara was still mad at her, and everyone else, she wasn't too shallow to them. Aang knew it was going to take a lot of time to earn her trust and love again; he just hoped they could fix it before it was too late. Which he still didn't know what, or how he was suppose to get this evil spirit out of him, but the Guru seemed to believe he could figure it out. But he needed to learn it, and fast. The Airbender knew Ozai wouldn't stop fighting in front of him, and he didn't know how to tell his friends of this demon in him. There wasn't much they could do, and that was why he kept it to himself; he didn't need them to be constantly checking up on him, or wishing that they could do something. It was his problem, and they didn't need that burden.

The Air Nomad was getting a little tired and decided to land on the saddle, giving the group distance from him as he twirled his glider in his hand to make it into a regular staff again. They were still arguing over where to start, some wanted to go south, while some argued to go to the east instead. Aang knew that they needed some kind of evidence, something _or _someone who knew of the people who went missing. And then it struck him.

"I think we should fly back to the village where Hama lives." Aang said a little loud, so he could stop the arguing that didn't seem to stop. Everyone got quiet, as they looked up at the Airbender.

Zuko spoke up, "Why start there? There have been plenty of attacks in the Fire Nation, and you want to go to a remote village, where no attacks have been confirmed? And I thought we already declared that Hama was apart of this Army that is stirring up?"

The Monk sighed, "No, we assumed. To be honest, we don't know who is _truly_ with this new Enemy, but we need to make sure it is true." he said.

"But" Toph said, "people have said that they have seen an old woman there helping them. Who else could be an evil Waterbender from the south, who can also bloodbend like her? No offense." she said to Katara, who just sat there not really caring right now.

"Wrong again." Aang said, "They are _all_ rumors. Things that people believe that they see, but don't know what they are talking about." The Airbender knew what he was talking about, because he would do the same to his friends while they were out looking for him. He knew that people would say whatever they wanted to, in order to get attention, and it was the perfect strategy while he was with the Guru.

Sokka looked at the map, and examined it for a few minutes, and looked up at Aang. "So, what it sounds like you are telling us is, that we are going to have to get evidence of whether or not these 'rumors' are true or not, correct?"

"Well," Aang began, "not everyone. We already know that the Dai Lee Agents and Long Feng are gone, so we don't need to worry about them. But if it is Hama, then at least we can be ready for her…or at least one of us will be." the Monk said, as he looked at Katara. They both locked eyes for a second, and then she looked back down at the map.

"Wait," Suki said, and making everyone look at her "what do you mean 'one' of us? I thought you knew how to bloodbend Aang, especially since, well, you're the Avatar. You know how to metalbend and redirect lightning. So why don't you know this one?" she asked curiously at the Young Tattooed Boy. Sokka slightly bumped his fiancé, wishing she didn't ask the question. The Air Nomad looked at Teo who continued to fly in a calm manner now, instead of the Inventor and him playing around and showing off in the night sky.

"I was told that there were some things that I should never learn." the Monk said not wanting to look at the others, or see Katara's face. "And she was right. If something happens to me, then it would be a terrible fate if I could control people while I was in the Avatar State."

"What do you mean if something happens to you?" Toph said, not understanding what he meant by that in a future tense. She knew that it was possible for him to be captured, but he made it sound like it was something else. Something he wasn't telling them.

Aang tightened his grip on his glider, feeling the wood rubbing up against the inside of his hands. He wanted to just throw himself off of Appa for what he said, and he wasn't going to lie to them anymore, but he wasn't going to tell them the real answers just yet, so he remained quiet.

"You need to learn it if you haven't yet, Aang." Zuko protested, knowing that he also needed to know how to draw up lightning, just like his Uncle tried to teach him. The Firebender knew he was going to have to send a messenger hawk to his Uncle, and ask how to do it once again. He didn't want Aang to do it wrong, and blow it all up in his face, just like when he had first tried to attempt it. Maybe Zuko could try it again now, especially since he restored his own honor.

The Monk looked back at the group as their eyes were all on his, and even Katara was looking up at him from underneath her long eye lashes. "Look guys, there are some things I believe I should never use, and Bloodbending is one of them. I don't want to go into the Avatar State, and use it on people. I have no idea if I could use it on one person, or lots of people." Aang said, and looked at the Water Tribe Girl, who had just pulled her knees into her chest. "I can't do it."

The Fire Lord grunted, "This is like Firebending all over again." he said, while leaning back on the saddle with his arm still around Mai.

Aang shot a look at him, "That was different, and you know it!" he yelled at him.

Toph shook her head, "No it's not. The Avatar should know how to do _everything_, and that includes the stuff that scares you the most. You wouldn't do Fire, because of what you did to Katara, but you had to learn it in order to defeat Ozai." she said, which made the group go completely silent.

The Avatar put his head down; remembering that day like it was yesterday. Even though he had forgiven himself for what he did, as the Guru told him to do, it was still a horrible memory for him. He was playing around with fire, and Katara paid the price for it. He recalled those soft dark hands of hers having red marks all over them, and the cries of her pain. There were some days when he would see that memory in his dreams, and the Demon would cause him to wake as he fought him off. It loved his pain, and the feeling of fire burning onto someone else's flesh…it was something that he _enjoyed_ doing.

Aang looked up at them, knowing that Toph and Zuko were right, but if they knew what was going on with him, they wouldn't tell him to do this. The Monk stood up, and said, "I'll take my chances."

Then he jumped onto Appa's head and started guiding him down towards a place for them to rest. Momo flew over from Katara's shoulder and onto his as it wrapped its tail around him once again.

The Waterbender agreed with what the Gang said about Aang having to learn how to do it, but it wasn't something she was taught. It happened on instinct, because Hama tried to kill Aang with Sokka's own 'Space Sword', and that was when she felt it. She felt every muscle, the pumping of Hama's blood in her veins, and she felt _so_ powerful when she did this to the old woman. She swore to herself that she would never ever use it, but that ended up not being true once she found out about her Mothers killer. But ever since then, she couldn't teach Aang what made her a monster. And he respected that enough to never ask again.

Katara looked up at Aang, as he wore the clothes that she had once made for him. He wore the gray Fire pants and black shoes, along with Air clothes that made his right shoulder bare, and the red belt tied around him. She still loved his blue tattoos that went around his arms and stopped. Then there was the long middle tattoo on his back that went straight to his head and lower back, passing through the scar where Azula left between his shoulders. He was much tanner than she remembered, which made the blue stand out a lot more, and even made his light skinned scars stand out too. The muscles on his back were chiseled from the shadows of the moon light, which seemed to be cast from his shoulder blades, and making him look even more majestic. The Waterbender shook her head at this ridiculous observation, but it was the first time that she had ever seen him remotely without a shirt covering his entire body. It was just amazing to just see his muscles move, even in the slightest way. Even though she wanted to look away, she just couldn't as she traced her eyes over his new body.

The Airbender decided to fly around for about another hour. It was late, and he could tell that everyone was tired. From the map that Sokka showed, they were maybe a two days ride, or four days from Hama's village, if they walked any. He needed to know if she was truly with them, because if not, they were facing someone else who could possible control a human being. But what scared him the most is if Hama is behind it; would she teach the other Waterbender's too? Even though she didn't teach Katara how to do it, she was able to do out of instinct, to save his life. Sometimes he would blame himself for making Katara bloodbend. He could tell from a distance that she was winning, but with his and Sokka's interference, she had no choice. And he always wondered if it could have been different.

The Monk looked to his left, and saw a small opening in the middle of some trees; a perfect spot to get some rest. He pulled Appa's reigns and guided him to the opened area. When he finally landed, he slid off of his Bison's head and looked around in the dark trees for anything, or anyone, out there. He knew he could depend on Toph to do that, but he was trying to practice, so he could know if anyone could sneak up. Teo soared around in circles for a minute, trying to find the perfect landing spot, and rode right into it.

When the young Inventor pulled on his brakes when he landed he looked over at Aang and said, "Man do I love to fly! It's _so_ exhilarating!"

"Speak for yourself." Toph said as she got off of Appa's saddle with her bag in her hand, and looking a little greener than her Earthbending clothes. Even after all of this time, she still couldn't seem to get used to flying in the sky. But then again, Aang thought to himself, he would probably hate it too if he felt like hr were floating constantly, with no feeling or seeing of where you are.

The Monk could tell that everyone was exhausted as they slowly got down from the saddle, stretching, and were all yawning constantly. He was pretty tired himself, but he knew that if he was lucky enough, he would only sleep for a few hours before his nightmares would take over. As everyone was helping prepare for camp, Aang knew that they were going to need a fire, so he volunteered for the job.

"You guys set up camp, I'll be back in a few minutes." he said, and was about to walk off until Zuko stopped him.

"Wait Aang." he said while he ran up towards him, "I'll come too. It's better that we don't get separated, especially since we don't know how far this Rebellion's territory goes.'

The Airbender shook his head, "I'll be fine." he said, and then looked over at Mai from Zuko's shoulders. "The number one person you need to worry about is your wife, I won't go far. I promise." And before he could let Zuko protest, Aang ran like the wind through the trees.

Zuko stumbled back a little as the Airbender's wind pushed against him, and making the dust fly so he couldn't see his trail. The Fire Lord sighed, knowing that even if he did leave a trail, he was already miles away by now. The Firebender turned back towards the group and helped them set up camp. The group was quiet, and the only thing that they seemed to hear was the rumbling of Sokka's stomach.

After about an hour, Aang returned back with his hands piled high with twigs and sticks to help make the fire. He could see that they had all waited up for him to return, to make sure that they didn't have to go looking for him. The Airbender set up the sticks in a triangle pile, and them with the small fire that he easily made in his hands. When he knew that it wasn't going to go out anytime soon, Aang stood back up, feeling the warm fire.

"I'll take first watch." he said to his sleepy friends.

"I'll take second." Katara said, knowing that she wasn't going to sleep well, even though her body was begging her to do it. Aang looked at her about to protest, but decided against arguing with her. The tension between them was bad enough, he didn't need it get any worse tonight. So he just nodded once, and left the group towards a huge log to his right and sat on it, as he allowed the rest of them to make other shift changes. But Aang was going to stay up as long as his body would allow him without disturbing Katara's sleep. He knew that she wasn't sleeping well since she found out about him a week ago, and he hoped by some miracle, that she would be able to.

Once he could see that everyone was finally asleep, Aang took out the letter from Guru Pathik, and read it over and over again. He had read it so many times that he could write it in the exact signature that he did, from every curve and word. The Monk didn't know why he read it every night, but sometimes he would always think that he had missed something, but it never turned out like that.

He truly wished his friend was here to guide him, tell him stories, and give him life long lessons too. Aang would have asked more questions about love, and how he could face someone who hates him so much now, because he was an Air Head for lying to her in the first place. He just wished that it never happened, or he just wished that he could have told her sooner from him, and not Sokka screaming his name out in rage.

After a few hours of sitting on a log, he slipped down on the ground and leaned his head back against it while he looked up at the stars. He began humming the song that Chong sang before he left them, and it said "_Even if you're lost you can't lose love because it is in your heart."_ And it made him smile as he thought about that, hoping that it was true, especially all that that happened while he was gone.

"_We make choices and we don't look back._" he said to himself, wishing that it was easier said than done. Suddenly Aang felt a small body rub up against his leg and began purring next to him. He grinned down at the little Lemur, who always seemed to be there for him when he was sad. Once Momo was back to sleep next to him, he sat up straight, and got into a meditative state. He wasn't going into the Spirit World, but it just seemed to calm his mind as he sat there and breathed in and out slowly; listening to _everything_ around him, connecting with the earth beneath him, and even hearing the heartbeats of his friends and animals. Each one of theirs was _so_ different; some beat fast, others were calm, some louder than normal, but he easily recognized Katara's.

Her beat had the same rhythm as his even when though she was sleeping, and it made Aang reach back into his left pocket to pull out the betrothal necklace. There was a small white cloud inside of it, as it stayed center, and not getting any bigger. He rubbed his thumb over the inscription, remembering the first time that they had ever kissed. It was a magical moment with her soft lips on his, and how different it was compared to all of the others after. They both seemed a little timid when they first kissed in that cave, mostly because he didn't know how a twelve year old should kiss a girl two years older than him. It was a lot of pressure when you knew that you might die if you didn't, and if it didn't work, then he would know that there was no love between them.

After another few hours of sitting with his eyes closed, Aang stood up, and went over towards the group to make that the fire continued to burn for their warmth. Zuko had his arm around Mai's waist as they slept; Sokka was snoring loud with drool coming down the side of his face while Suki layed her head on his chest, with his right arm wrapped around her, and the hand held the sheath of the sword. Teo and Toph slept next to each other, but with plenty of space to spare them both, and then there was Katara. She seemed to be sleeping soundly with one hand underneath as a pillow and the other hand lying next to her. As quietly as he could he walked over to the breathtaking Waterbender, and bent down next to her. A few strands of hair were blowing on her face, and then she shivered a little bit.

Aang looked to the right saw the blue covers at her feet, and gently pulled them up to her shoulders, and tucked the blue cloth around her, just like Ursa taught him. When he was happy with her being warm, the Monk gently reached his right to her face, and moved the strands of hair behind her left ear. His fingers drew around her curved ear, and scanned down her jaw line, with the back of his fingers, until he reached her chin, and then he stopped. Aang knew that he was still madly and hopelessly in love with her, and he desperately wished that he could scoot next to her and keep her warm on this kind of chilly night. But he going to try and not mess things up anymore with Katara and this was the last thing that she wanted. That he was sure about.

OooooOooooOoooo

Katara had slept really well that night, with dreams of Aang by her side. Her dreams were jumping everywhere, from the first time she met the little boy in the iceberg who was the sweetest kid, and had asked her to go penguin sledding with him. Then it went to the first time she kissed him on the cheek when he got her Mom's necklace back from Zuko. Her dream then jumped to the Cave of Two Lovers where they had their first real kiss, and it switched to the secret dance party that she loved so much, and did another turn in time as she went to the day of black sun when _he_ kissed her. All were good dream memories, some in which she had forgotten, and others that she never stopped thinking about.

The Waterbender moved onto her back and stretched out as she looked at the light blue sky, which made her instantly think of Aang's arrowed tattoos that looked so good on him. She could tell that it was still early in the morning, because Sokka was still snoring, and because the Airbender didn't wake her up for the second shift.

Katara sat up on her elbows, and then used her arm strength to lift half of her body up. She felt something fall off of her, and when she looked down, there was a blue blanket on top of her. She remembered that she left it where her feet were, and didn't remember putting it over herself.

"_Strange." _Katara thought to herself, and then folded up her things. She got out her light blue Southern Water Tribe comb and brushed her hair until she was completely satisfied with her hair not being tangled up. She put the rest of her things in her bag, and looked over at the Young Man near the log, who seemed to not have moved an inch from where she left him. She walked over towards him, and could see that he was meditating, but his tattoos weren't glowing, which meant he wasn't in the Spirit World.

Katara started to turn back so as not to disturb him, but Aang spoke anyways. "Is there something you need Katara?" he asked in a tired tone.

The Waterbender didn't want to talk to him right now, but she knew he should sleep for a little bit. "I think you should sleep some. We will be leaving soon, and the last thing we need is an exhausted Avatar." she said, not really wanting to say his name. She saw no movement of his body, but could tell that it hurt him because she didn't make him seem like a person anymore.

Aang grunted through his nose, and opened his eyes to the already risen sun. "Guess that's all I'll be to you from now on." he said, as he stood up, and looked at Katara.

The Waterbender could see that he had had absolutely no sleep, and it was almost like reliving the day Aang was having nightmares and he couldn't sleep. So he decided stayed awake for long periods of time, as he began to have daydreams as well.

The Airbender walked towards her, giving each other plenty of space to breathe, and put his hands on his waist as he looked at the green grass. Katara could see that the scabs on his face were healing, but she could also tell that a small scar was going to form on his right eyebrow. She was a bit curious about the cut on his stomach, and hoped that it wasn't bad at all.

He looked back down into those blue eyes and said, "Thanks for relieving me of my shift. I hope you slept well Katara." And then he gave her a very small smile, and went towards Appa. He fell onto the Bison's tail, and turned sideways so Katara couldn't see his watery eyes. She no longer thought of him as Aang, but the Avatar instead…

Katara felt horrible for what she said to him, and she didn't mean to say it like that. For so long, she couldn't say his name without her chest and stomach tightening as her memories of him would flood back into her. She was able to put those feelings and happy moments in the back of her mind, so that she wasn't constantly thinking about him. It was difficult to do, but all of her emotions for him were still bottled up somewhere, not sure if it could ever be opened again.

The Waterbender looked back over at Aang, not sure if he was asleep or not, but decided to sit on the log as she looked out into the trees. Momo was now sleeping on his back, next to her left leg and snoring quietly to himself. She smiled at him, knowing that he was getting his full hours of sleep in. Katara was a bit surprised too that she slept longer than she normally does, but then again when Aang was 'Kuzon', she slept well too. There were no more horrible nightmares of screaming in a cold sweat, or waking up with tears in her eyes. Ever since he came back, the storms in her soul was calming little by little. Katara decided to give the Airbender a couple of hours to sleep before their day began, as they would have to travel back to the one town where she became a bloodbender. A place she didn't want to see ever again.

**Alrighty then. So a lot of things are in motion now, and I figured it was time for the gAang to go on some adventures. I want them to go to other places like the show always did, and I'm hoping that I please everyone by doing this. =) So there was a TINY Kataang moment, which I hope you liked out there, and more will come. Promise.**

**So it is up to you guys now! You've read it, and now I would like to hear what you think about it =) I read them ALL and I value your comments (good or bad)**


	15. Chapter 15

**First off, I want to say that you guys have been FREAKIN' awesome in your reviews to me! You all seem to be enjoying my stories, and still wanting me to do more for you! =) This chapter took me quite a while to do, because it is by far, as of now, the longest chapter I have done for you guys! I hope you enjoy it, and again, I apologize ahead of time for my spelling and grammar, which you will most likely find with it being so long. :/**

**I don't own anything of A:TLA, so please enjoy!**

Aang had decided to land Appa a few miles away from the small village, while they would investigate. The Monk then asked the Gang to stay behind, but like always, they refused him anyways. Aang remembered this village as being one of the most beautiful places in the Fire Nation, and was still surprised at it still remaining the same after almost two years. They all walked through the small forest, and then went into some fire lilies along the way to Hama's town. Katara stopped before she could walk through them, and just starred down at flowers, remembering her Southern Teacher. She bent down, and lifted one up in her right palm as she examined this red blossomed flower in the early time of spring.

"_It's a shame about the lilies though." Katara said to Hama, as she looked down at the dried up sphere of flowers around her._

_Hama was able to dismiss this quickly from her, "They are just flowers. When you are a Waterbender in a strange land, you do what you must to survive."_

Little did the young Waterbender know, at that time, what Hama truly meant about "doing what you must to survive."

The Airbender was very surprised at how much these flowers looked similar to the ones in Aunt Wu's village, which were located barely above a volcano. He could feel the connections that were underneath his feet, something that Guru Pathik once showed him. He had been practicing as much as he could to try and understand more of the natural order of things, and how we are all truly connected to each other. For some reason though, the Aang felt like stopping. When he did, everyone walked past him, while he looked back at Katara who hadn't even taken a step in the flowers. He wasn't sure why, but something seemed to really bug her about them.

Suki was walking by him, and he gently grabbed her left arm. "You may want to go check on Katara. Something is up, and I don't like the look in her eyes." he said, as he looked at the bent down Waterbender.

The Kyoshi Warrior looked back towards where Aang eyes were, "How can you tell something is wrong?" she asked, not understanding. "She could just be admiring the lilies? They are beautiful."

Aang shook his head at her, "I don't know…I just _feel_ like it is. This place probably isn't one of her favorites." he proclaimed. The Airbender knew that bringing her here was going to stir up a lot of memories for her, but as for the lilies, he didn't know what these flowers meant to her.

"Please." he asked nicely, "I would go and talk to her, but…"

Suki smiled, "I know." she said as she place her other hand on his shoulder. She walked back towards Katara, as Aang got in back of the line with the rest of the group.

The Waterbender felt like she was reliving the past again, as she gently held the one red lily in her right hand. Katara's eyes then caught Suki standing over her, but her eyes never left the flower. Suki decided to get on her knees down next to the dark skinned girl, and she looked at the lily in Katara's right hand.

"Is everything okay?" she asked with a little concern, as she realized what Aang meant about look in her sad eyes.

Katara over at Suki, "Just the past…" she said, not wanting to bring it back up, and then she stood up.

Suki followed her league, "Did something happen here with the lilies?" she asked.

The dark skinned Girl looked at her again, "…It's nothing important, they are just flowers." she said, knowing very well that it wasn't true. The Kyoshi Warrior could tell she was lying, but didn't want to push anything with her either, since she was still trying to get in her good grace.

"Okay." she said, but decided to give Aang some points for looking out for her. "Aang was just curious. He seems a little worried about you, and this place."

Katara's eyes then darted back at Aang who was far away now, but she could still easily spot him. "Well, you can tell him that there is nothing to worry about. I'm fine." she said to Suki, as if she was the messenger girl. The Waterbender started walking towards the group, with her brother Fiancé by her side. They both followed the tracks that Teo's wheelchair left, with foot prints in between the parallel lines.

The Air Nomad looked back at the girls, and could see that they were following them now. They continued their hike up the hillside, until they had at long last reached the village. And it scared him, because all was quiet. It brought back memories of when it was the day of the invasion, and he flew up to Fire Nations Palace and all of the people were gone.

"Now this is my kind of place." Mai said as she looked around, and saw no one even there.

Zuko looked around, "I don't know if I like this Aang, especially if it's a place my wife likes." he said, but ended up getting a evil look from his wife as she held a dagger between her index and middle fingers.

Aang got in front of the group and looked around. The only thing that he could hear was the wind blowing on the chimes outside of the houses, with ball of tumbleweed passing right in front of them.

"Well that's typical to see a ball of weeds passing through a town with _no_ people." Toph said with a hint of sarcasm. By about this time, Suki and Katara had just caught up to the group, and were both amazed at the stillness around them.

"What's going on you guys?" Suki asked going to Sokka's side.

"Where is everyone?" Katara asked.

Aang took a few steps forward, and looked again. He could tell that it had been empty for quite some time, due to the rotting cabbages near by. "Let's spread out." he said, and then started walking straight. Without questioning Aang, Suki went with Sokka to the left, Zuko and Mai went to the right, while Teo, Toph, and Katara started roaming around on the inside of the houses.

Katara's group walked into a house, and began examining it. Everything was gone, except for some tables, and few pieces of clothing on the ground. Just about every house they went into was like that. Katara estimated about a month and a half of no one being here, maybe even two. _"It just doesn't add up."_ she thought to herself as they continued their search for about another hour.

Mai and Zuko were pretty calm, but still a little nerve racked that no one was even here. He figured that it might be the Rebels, but there seemed to be no sign of troubles. No marks of a fight, no blood, there was nothing but dust being collected. Even the small little wooden Markets seemed to have absolutely nothing in them, no clothes, supplies, food, or even weapons. They both looked at each other, and decided to head back to find the rest of the Gang.

Sokka was extremely happy to have the sword that Aang gave him now. This place seemed like it was on the day of the full moon that rose, when they first arrived here. All of the houses had wood covering up the windows, or none at all. It seemed like they were trying to block a flood out, but they were pretty far from that ever happening.

The Water Warrior went over to some rotting fruits that were on a wooden stand, with some shade covering them. He smelt it, and then took a bite, and immediately spit it out.

"Taste like hot mold!" Sokka said, assuming that it did taste similar to it.

Katara and the rest of her crew had just walked by, and saw what Sokka did. "Why would you even consider trying something rotten like that?" the Waterbender asked.

Sokka shrugged, "I have a natural curiosity."

Zuko and Mai had just walked up to them, "Guessing that you guys didn't find anything either?" he asked, knowing full and well that there was absolutely nothing to look for. The place was an absolute ghost town.

Toph spoke, "If you're referring to us finding a lot of people, who are just _so_ overjoyed to see us again…then no."

Suddenly they all heard thunder from a distance, as the dark clouds began to get closer to them. They had all hoped that it would change directions with the wind blowing, but it stayed right on course, heading straight for them.

"I think we should find some shelter, and maybe bring Appa back here since it's a ghost town." Suki suggested, while she looked up at the skies with everyone else.

Zuko nodded, "I agree. Mai and I will go get Appa, while you guys go find Aang. It's been over an hour and he still hasn't come back yet." Everyone agreed, and decided to go their separate ways for a little bit.

Aang knew that he had been walking around for quite a while, but he just couldn't get over the fact of this place being totally empty. No clues, no foot prints, or signs of struggles anywhere. Finally, after roaming around for a bit longer, the Monk had found the spot where he wanted to be. At Hama's Inn. He knew it was a long shot at finding anything around here, but maybe there was something left behind to where he could know.

He entered into the house very slowly, with only his footsteps and the sound of his staff to puncture the silence. He looked at the table, where they had once eaten together, and then towards the small wooden kitchen where Hama made them a meal. At first, Aang didn't think the old woman was so bad, but just like Sokka, something was just off about her. The Inn was just like the rest of the houses; collecting dust and Spiderfly webs everywhere. He then walked slowly up the stairs, feeling every creek in the wood as he went up. There was absolutely nothing in any of the rooms that he went into, or any indications of what possibly happened here. The Monk then saw the small cupboard that Sokka once pried open, which made all of puppet dolls fall at them. Aang grabbed the handles, and pulled on them. As soon as he opened them, the dolls fell towards him, and stopped inches from his face.

The Monk jumped back a little, feeling his heart speed up. _"Yea, that's _still_ creepy."_ he thought to himself, knowing that he should have been more prepared for that to happen. Aang decided to leave them hanging out, so that no one else would be frightened by them if they got curious to open it again. He knew there was a third floor, and decided to go up the stairs anyways.

The attic was extremely hot, with no air to even breathe, and it was filled with even more dust and webs everywhere. Once he was at the top of the stairs, he looked to his right and started walking to the door that was closed. He could feel the webs catching onto his skin and hair, as he tried to swipe them away, but they stuck to him anyways. When the Airbender reached the door, he gently grabbed the knob, and twisted it. Aang was surprised that it completely unlocked, as the door opened just as easily. There was a dark light that was coming in from the window, which was straight in front of him, and shining down on his feet. He looked around, and saw a barrel to his left, but didn't pay any heed to it. There was no small gray and gold chest there anymore, but there seemed to be an imprint of the box left behind. Aang bent down, and examined it for a second, wondering if she came back, or someone took it.

Then a quiet cough came from behind him, and Aang looked back, but found no one at the door. He made himself get up and look again at the empty attic, not sure if his friends were playing some kind of a joke on him. The Airbender's eyes went back towards the barrel that was in the corner of the room, and walked over towards it. He examined if for a few seconds, to make sure nothing would happen if he opened it, and then he saw a small hole in middle of the barrel. He bent back down, and looked through the hole to see only darkness, but he could feel a child's heart beating rapidly inside.

He tried to talk to the little kid, "Anyone in here?" he asked, hoping to get an answer, but instead he heard a small gasp.

Aang tried to give the kid a smile as he talked to him, "Its okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you." he said in a whisper. The Monk could feel the little one shaking, knowing that he was very scared.

"I'm the Avatar, but my friends call me Aang, or Twinkle Toes too." he said, hoping to help calm the kid a little, which it kind of did and didn't. "Can you tell me your name?"

A few minutes passed by as Aang waited patiently for the scared child. "…Shing." he said so quietly that he wasn't for sure if he heard right.

The Monk sat down, and placed his glider to his right, as he stuck his index finger through the hole, and said, "It's nice to meet you Shing." Aang then felt a hand wrapped around his finger, and shook it hesitantly.

"You too Mr. Avatar." he said, a little nervously.

The Air Nomad laughed a little, "You can just call me Aang. Shing, I am about to open the barrel, and I don't want you to be afraid. If you are okay with me doing this, you can just stick your finger out of the little hole there."

Again he waited for Shing to do what he asked, and sat there for a few more minutes as the boy thought about it. Then a pale finger came out, and went back in instantly. Aang nodded towards him, and stood up slowly so as not to alarm him.

"I'm lifting the top now Shing." he said trying to warn him. Aang airbended it off slowly, and then quietly put it on the ground. When he looked in, he could see that the little boy was in a ball, and shaking. He had brown hair that was in a small pony tail, and ripped up Fire Nations clothing that had dirt on it. Shing seemed even more afraid now, as he did not look up at Aang from his little ball.

"Shing." he said in a sweet tone, "Shing, I'm reaching my hand in to help pull you up. You can take it, or I can let you get out yourself. Okay? I don't want to make you do anything that you're not comfortable with." The Monk put his arm slowly in, and touched the boys shoulders to try and stop his shaking. Then Shing looked at his hand, and followed it up to Aang's face. The Fire Nation boy had gray eyes, just like him, and very child like features. To the Airbender, he seemed maybe ten years old, maybe eleven even, but it was hard to tell with him being skinny. Aang gave him a warm smile, and held his hand out in front of him to see.

"It's okay Shing. I want to help." he said, as he looked down at the gray eyed little boy. Shing looked down at his hand, and hesitated for a second, and finally grabbed his hand. Aang gripped the boy's rough hands, and helped pull him out. Once he was out of the barrel, he stood at about Aang's waist, maybe even a bit shorter perhaps. He had no shoes on, which was hard to tell if you didn't look hard enough, and one side of his pants were ripped at his knees. The little boy looked up at him, and tears began to fill up in his already red eyes. Aang bent down on one knee, and put a hand on his shoulder, but Shing wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than Skunk Bear could. He could feel the boy's tears dripping down the side of his neck, as he continued to cry against him. The Monk was a little shocked at Shing's reaction, but he wrapped his arms around him and picked him up. Then he airbended his glider into his left hand, while the other held gray eyed boy and slowly walked out of the attic.

Aang had never held a kid like a Father normally would, and he didn't even know if he was doing it right. The Air Nomad was still too young to even consider himself an adult, even though he is technically114 years old, but it felt like a natural instinct for Aang as he held the skinny boy and walked him out of Hama's house. The sky was much darker now, and he could smell the fresh rain that would be here soon. Shing was much lighter than he thought, and it saddened him to see a child in this kind of state. The Monk looked up and down at the houses outside of the Inn and still saw nothing but emptiness in them.

After a few short minutes, he saw Teo from a distance, as he seemed to shout at someone he couldn't see. Then the Airbender saw his friends coming out of the houses, and started running towards him. When the Gang finally reached him, they were all shocked that Aang had even, remotely found someone.

Aang whispered to Shing, "I'm going to put you down, okay? These are my friends, and I want you to meet them." But the boy's response was to tighten his hug around the Monk's neck, and then Aang laughed a little. He patted him gently on the back and said, "Its okay. They aren't going to hurt you."

Katara was a bit amazed at the way Aang was handling this little boy; it was almost like watching a Father giving comfort to his _own_ son. She had seen him with plenty of other kids who adored him, like the ones back at her tribe, but she had never seen him doing _this_. She smiled a little at the tall Monk, as she could see that he had matured a lot over the past year and a half. When Aang finally bent down, he let go of the little boy, and then the little boy turned around to face them all.

The Waterbender gasped to herself, and she saw the spitting image of Aang in that little boy. He had the exact gray eyes, same features when the Airbender was younger, but with brown hair instead of black. This child could be his twin if he wanted to be. It was like the first time she and Sokka had found Aang frozen in that iceberg. Suki, Sokka, and Teo were all a bit surprised by their similarities too.

"Okay." Toph said a little irritated, "I'm hearing you all gasp, but can someone be the eyes to this _Blind_ girl right now!"

Teo apologized to her, forgetting to always be her eyes, and told her about the boy in front of them, and how he looked like Aang.

"Guys," Aang said, and stood up, as his left hand was on the little boys shoulder. "This is Shing. Shing, this is Suki, Sokka, Teo, Toph, and Katara." he said pointing them out from left to right. "These are my friends."

The group was silent for a little bit, until Toph broke the silence. "What's up?" she asked while she crossed her arms.

Shing looked away shyly from them, and then looked up at Aang. The Monk smiled, and then looked at Katara coming towards him. She bent down on her knees and sat on them, and said, "Hi Shing."

When the little boy heard her speak, he turned around and wiped his tears away. Katara looked up at Aang, and then back down to Shing. "How old are you Shing?" she asked in a cute curious manner.

"…eleven." he said with a little more confidence in his voice, but still nervous.

The Waterbender smiled, "Eleven, huh? You seem a little bit older than that." she said, hoping to stir up the conversation with him.

The little Fire Boy laughed, "My Mom says the same thing…she tells me I look twelve instead." he said with a smile, but it faded as he remembered his Mother. When Aang saw that they were getting better acquainted, he decided to go talk to the rest of the Gang while Katara took an interest in him.

"Where did you find him?" Suki asked, looking back and forth at Shing and Aang, not wanting to believe what she was seeing.

The Monk clenched his jaw, "Hama's Inn." he said pointing thumb back at the house. "I wanted to see if there is anything that was left behind for us, but there wasn't. Only her puppets seemed to still be there."

"I bet those guys are really getting tired of _hanging_ around!" Sokka joked, but no one even cracked a smile as you could only hear silence and a cough from the side somewhere. "Get it? Because they are puppets who _hang_ around." he emphasized as he tried to make it joke clearer.

"Too bad we can't _hang_ your jokes up with them!" Toph said which caused everyone to snicker at him. Even Katara and Shing seemed to get a little laugh out of it. Sokka mumbled to himself in anger, not understand how they couldn't get his joke. Suki put a hand on his shoulder, and gave him a crooked smile of apology as it calmed him a bit.

"Well it looks like you had better luck than we did Aang." Sokka said, "We didn't find anything or anyone else around here either. And the fruit taste bad too." he added. The Airbender tilted his head a little, knowing that the fruit was bad. Instantly they could all feel the temperatures dropping as the dark clouds started to wash over the sun, and the winds began to pick up. When Aang looked up, he saw Appa in the sky, and descending fast.

Katara was really starting to like this little boy, but she didn't know if it was because it reminded her of little Aang, or because she wished it was him. Suddenly, the Waterbender saw Shing's eyes get really big as he looked up into the sky, and saw Appa landing.

"It's 'The Flying Buffalo!'" he yelled with joy, and ran towards the Bison.

Aang looked at Shing, curious as to what he meant by that as he ran fast. Everyone followed after him, until he got to Appa. As soon as the Bison saw him, he pinned Shing down, and began licking him. The little boy started laughing, as the tongue continued to cover him in slobber. As soon as Katara heard his laugh, it was the exact same as Aang's. The Monk had only laughed like that a few times when he was 'Kuzon', and she just adored it. Zuko and Mai were dumbfounded at the little boy, who was now being covered in Bison spit.

"Eww!" Mai said grossed out to her husband, as her entire body shook at the idea of that being on her. Everyone watched in amazement at how Appa responded to him, and wasn't exactly sure if or how these two met. Unexpectedly, it started to rain on them very lightly, but Aang knew it was going to start pouring in a few minutes.

When the beast finally stopped licking him, Shing got up, and hugged the Bison's face. "It's good to see you again boy." he said with a bright smile, as all of his past terror began to melt away.

Aang bent down toward the boy who was covered in slime, and asked, "How do you know Appa?" The Monk was sure that he had never seen this boy before in his entire life, and yet his Spirit Guide knew him?

Shing wiped the slobber from his face, still smiling, and said, "Is that his name? They called him 'The Flying Buffalo' at the Circus that I went to. I didn't think I would ever see him again since he ran out of the tent, but I'm glad to see that he is alright!" Again, the Bison licked his backside, and made him stumble to Aang. Shing continued to laugh as the rain got harder.

"Hey guys!" Teo said, trying to get their attention, "Let's get into the house here, so we can discuss our next move!" As soon as he said that, he rolled into a two story wooden house, with Toph behind him. Suki, Sokka, Mai, and Zuko both agreed and went running indoors.

The Airbender looked over at Katara, and said, "Take Shing inside! I'll be right behind you with our supplies!"

The Waterbender nodded, picked up the little boy, and ran him into the house as the rain started to pour down now heavy. The Air Nomad untied the gear on Appa's back saddle, and told him to take care of himself while they stayed the night here. Once the Bison agreed, he disappeared into the dark clouds. Aang then formed a water shield around him, so that nothing could get wet, and ran into the house that was lit up now.

Aang placed the gears to the side, and shook his wet hair as he then airbended it off of him. He looked at Katara and Shing, and did the same to them until they were dry too. Everyone then got their stuff, and started to make camp in the house. They had all agreed to stay together on the first floor, just to be safe. While everyone else was doing this, Aang went over to Shing, who was starring out the window looking for Appa.

The Avatar leaned his right shoulder against the wall, and said, "Don't worry, he'll be okay. Appa likes to fly in the rain, especially on nights like this."

Shing looked over at his new friend and gave him a small grin, "I guess you're right. It's just been so long since I have seen him."

Aang desperately wanted to know how he knew of Appa being in a Circus, but that would have to wait for a little bit. He knew that Shing was tired, but he needed to find out what happened to this place, and to _his_ family as well. The Airbender then guided him back to a small table, where they both sat down on the floor. Then automatically, the boy's eyes caught Aang's blue tattoos, and became very curious as he looked at them.

"Did it hurt?" he asked Aang.

The Monk looked at him strangely, "Did what hurt?"

Shing pointed to the arrow on his hand, "Your tattoos. How did you get them? My dad has one, and he said it hurt." By about this time Katara had decided to sit next to the young boy, and then his eyes lit to the older girl next. Aang wondered if he pulled that same look on her, when he first saw Katara.

Aang smiled, "I'm not sure. I was about a year younger than you when I had the Monks put them on me. I got these tattoos by mastering thirty five of thirty six tiers of Airbending, and also because I invented a new Airbending technique that I like to call the 'Air Scooter.'" he said. The Monk remembered Monk Gyatso telling him, when he was six and in Air Scouts, that he was a better Airbender than kids twice his age. And when he turned ten, Gyatso told him that he was a better Airbender than him, or any other teachers there.

Katara had never heard this side of Aang's story before. Yes, she knew that he got his tattoos because he became an Airbender, but she never really knew the details of it either. It intrigued her a lot, and hoped that she would maybe learn about it someday. Shing then laid his head on Katara's shoulder, and because of her motherly nature, she put her arm on his shoulder lightly and started to run her hands over his greasy hair and looked back to Aang. The Monk's eyes locked with Katara, which made him smiled at her as he felt the love she was showing. But she quickly looked back down at the boy, and gently kissed him on top of the head. Aang exhaled out quietly, as he forgot that she still wasn't past what he did to her, and he couldn't blame her either.

Aang's eyes then darted to the boy who was being comforted. "Shing? I need you to tell me what happened here." The Airbender knew he was pushing it with him, especially if he had to remember all that had happened to him, but he needed to know.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The little boy looked at the tattooed man, as he closed his eyes and nodded very slowly. The rest of the Gang decided to join around the small table, just in time to hear what the little Fire boy was about to say. But when he opened his eyes and saw the people surrounding him, he turned his head into Katara's side, so that no one could see his face. The Waterbender reached over with her right hand, and rubbed his left arm gently. She then whispered something into his ear, which Aang couldn't catch, and then the little boy looked back up at Aang and closed his eyes again as he told it.

"_Me and my friend Ryo had decided to go fishing that day, in hopes of catching something. But when we had troubles with our lines, we decided to swim instead. It was getting late, and I knew that my mom was going to be worried about me. So we all decided to head back into town. I remember saying goodbye to Ryo, who walked me home, and I can still smell what my mom was cooking that night. She had decided to make us my favorite; breakfast for dinner. My father didn't come home until late that night, and they were arguing while I was asleep. And that's when they came…"_

Shing opened his eyes, and could see that everyone was starring at him, waiting to hear he had to say. He looked over at Aang, who seemed very calm, and smiled at him encouragingly to continue. The boy moved his head up at Katara, who also gave him a warm smile to continue as well. The little boy loved the way the blue eyed girl held him, because his Mom would be doing the same to him if he was frightened. Shing missed his Mother dearly, and it ached to think about her.

He exhaled, and closed his eyes again. _"The next thing I knew, my parents shouting stopped. The whole room went silent, and I got out of bed to see if everything was okay. I slid my door open and called out 'Mom? Dad?' but no one answered. I grabbed a lamp, and looked around the kitchen. But when I was about to turn around, a black bag came over my head, and I tried to fight them off. I bit at their fingers, and kept on kicking them, but something hit me on the head, and my eyes shut; however, I wasn't like that for long. I recall being on top of people as we were being carried _up_ somewhere, with the smell of cedar and dirt. I knew that we were still on the same island, but I didn't know where exactly. I tried to get loose, but they gagged me and tied my arm and legs together. The guys that were talking sounded big, as they said something about 'Spirits and control?'"_

Everyone looked at each other in silence, not sure if they heard correctly. They all knew that the _only _person who could go into the Spirit world was Aang, and as for control? The Gang didn't know what he meant about that, but it was going to be subject for them to talk to Aang about. The Monk knew that they were going to ask him questions, which he hoped he wouldn't have to do. He couldn't lie to them anymore, but he still didn't want to tell them. The Air Nomad knew that if he told them, then they would stay _far_ away from him. And he wouldn't blame them either.

Shing continued, _"The next thing I knew, I was tossed against a hard wall, along with the others. I don't know how long I was in there, but they would keep us chained to the wet walls. I was so scared, but luckily I had Ryo only a few feet away from me, as well as other kids too. They seemed to have separated us from our parents, but we didn't know where exactly. All of us were screaming for our Mom's and Dad's until we couldn't talk anymore, and then we would all break down and cry in the dark place. Soon, they began dragging us one by one, and asking us if we could Firebend. I knew Ryo could, but he was a year younger than me, and didn't do it all of the time. They told us, that if we told the truth we could see our parents again. But…when they did, I could hear them screaming in a distance, and then there was nothing...I never heard from Ryo again…"_

Sokka grabbed Suki's hand as the story started to creep him out even more, not knowing if the kids lived or died. Katara hugged the boy tighter, and placed her head on top of his head as he started to sob. She then looked at Aang, who had his hand squeezing into an impenetrable ball that showed the whitening of his knuckles. This was upsetting the Monk as he heard this. He knew the adults were being taken, but what could they do with kids younger than _him_?

"How did you escape?" Aang asked, as he leaned over the wooden table towards Katara and his new friend.

Shing looked up at Aang through those teary blood shot eyes, and wiped his nose before he answered his question. "I-I don't know. I just remember someone undoing my chains, and then he _or_ she guided me out of there, and then when he took off my dark hood, I was back in my village. The moon hurt my eyes _so_ badly as I looked around for others who had escaped too. I tried to look for the kids, as well as my parents, but I didn't find them. When I saw that I was the only one who got out, I finally went into that house, and hid myself. Hoping not to be found again, but then…_you _found me." he said with a small smile forming on his face as he continued to wipe his tears away.

The room was completely silent as they processed everything that happened to this little boy, which tortured Aang as he wondered if he could have prevented this if he didn't leave. And if what Shing said was true, from the description he gave them, they were still somewhere near here.

"Shing, I know I am asking a lot from you." the Monk said, "But I need to know what you recall of this dark place. You were in there for a while with no sight, which means your ears and sense of touch became very strong. So, what can you of that place?"

Aang knew he was pushing him harder, but if there was even a _hint _of survivors, he was going to go out and find them. Katara gave the Airbender a shake of her head, knowing that this was not a good idea, but Aang ignored her. Toph could feel the boy's heart beating like crazy as these memories came flooding back to him, and it started to make her feel scared, which was rare. Teo then grabbed her hand, and held it as he could see that this was upsetting her just as much as everyone else. Mai had her head leaning on Zuko's shoulder, while he wrapped his left arm around her in a form of protection.

"Please Shing. I need you to be brave for me one more time, so I can find everyone who went missing that night." Aang said with a promise in his tone. The little boy began to hold back his tears again, as he tried to control himself. The Airbender knew he was hurting as the memory flooded back into his mind, and it was hurting Aang to see Shing in this state. His anger towards these _Rebels_ was starting to burn inside of him, but not enough for the Demon to use against him.

"I…I remember it being _very_ cold on my feet. Water would always be coming off of he wall and-and it would drip on my head. I can still hear the dripping of water when a room gets quiet, but when I look there seems to be no water…when they took me to be questioned, I remembered something soft under my feet, but squishy. I also remember that the echoes would go on forever…" he said, and broke down into tears. Katara put her arms around him again, and began rocking him and rubbing his back. She then gave Aang an evil look for what he did, but he wasn't even paying attention to her at all.

The Monk got up, and went to the small window that Shing was looking out at, and starred at the rain while he put his hands on his hips for a few minutes. Aang knew it was a cave that he went into, and it was up hill. It was somewhere perhaps in the mountains where Toph had once heard people screaming, but he knew that it wasn't going to be the same place. The Airbender ran his right hand through his hair as he began to think of what Shing said. It was very possible that there were other survivors, and _he_ was going to go look for them.

Aang looked back and saw _all_ of the girls trying to comfort the little boy as his tears kept flowing onto Katara, while she tried to calm him. Sokka, Zuko, and Teo were talking about what they just heard, and what they wanted to do. Aang tightened his jaw as he looked out at the rain and saw the lightning strike on tope of the mountain and lighting up the dark world outside. Something was going to have to be done. The tattooed boy then walked back toward his friends, continuing to stand over them.

"I think we should rest for now. "It's been a long day, and I'm sure we _all _could use some sleep." Aang said, knowing that he wasn't going to be getting any tonight.

Everyone agreed to it except for Toph, who didn't say a word to this. The Monk then went over to his pack, and brought out some fruits for Shing, which he ate with much delight. When he was done eating, he yawned as the idea of sleep seemed so good to him. When Katara saw this, she picked him up, and carried him next to where she would be sleeping. The dark skinned girl noticed that he had become very fond of her, but it was probably because she was acting so motherly towards him. And it seemed like it had been a long time since anyone had remotely held him the way she did. Aang smiled at the little moment between them as she gently laid him down, but he still clung onto her neck not wanting to let her go.

"Please don't leave me." Shing said with a sniffle. The young Waterbender looked down at the little boy who resembled Aang so much, that it just broke her heart as she looked at him. She gave him a rising sun smile, and started to brush her hands through his greasy hair again, as she continued to try and calm him.

Katara leaned over him and said, "I'm not going anywhere. Try and sleep Shing." Then she began to hum a melody that her Mom would always do for her when she had nightmares. She didn't know the meaning of it, but the sound of her voice always seemed to calm her when she was scared, and then the blue eyed girl wondered if she had that same trait. Katara continued humming this gentle melody to Shing, while she thought of her Mother, and wishing she was still here to tell her what to do. Kya was so full of wisdom and love to her and Sokka, and hoped that she was watching over them. Finally after minute Shing's eyelids began to get heavier and heavier until he had at long last fell into a deep sleep. Katara grinned down at him, and pulled her sheets over his shoulders. She tucked him in, and kissed his warm dirty cheeks.

The Waterbender got up from the bed, and turned around to see Aang with his arms crossed and leaning against a wooden pillar as he looked at the little boy. Katara could tell that this child had stolen the Airbender's heart and it hurt him, just as it did for her, to see Shing like this. The blue eyed girl was about to walk back towards her bag, until the tattooed boy whispered something to her and causing her to stop.

"Did I do this…" he asked still looking at the sleeping child, "Could I have prevented this from happening if I stayed?"

Katara turned back toward Shing, as he yawned and turned onto his left side. She then said "I don't know. Zuko didn't know about the small towns being hit…it was a surprise for all of us."

Aang looked down at his shoes, and then to Katara's ocean eyes. "Then why do I feel like it's still my fault? Why do I feel like I could've stopped this?"

The Waterbender looked at the boy again, and then back up to Aang, "You don't need to carry this burden...we _all_ could have done something, but we just didn't know that it had gotten this bad." Katara said, as it was becoming harder and harder for her not to say his name out loud. She could see the terror in his eyes as he tried to find the answers in his head, but she placed a hand on his shoulder. The Monk felt it, but didn't dare to look at her, because she could always read his emotions pretty well. The Waterbender gave him a gentle squeeze, and then went back to the Gang.

Even though she was still mad at Aang, she desperately wanted to comfort him, and tell him that it wasn't his fault, but he wouldn't have listened to her because his mind was already made up. One of the worst and good things about Aang; is that he would carry the burdens of other peoples pain, which was hard for him to do, but their _suffering _always seemed to make him fight harder.

For duration of that night, they talked around the table about this new information and how they could go looking for them Every now and again, Katara would look at Aang who stayed in the same spot as he looked at Shing. He never once even moved to change position, or stretch out his body. And even when everyone went to sleep, the Monk still stood there looking down at the sleeping boy. Katara was exhausted from their trip, and began to shut her eyes as she lay next to the little boy sucking his thumb. The dark skinned girl's eyes started to shut, with the image of Aang standing protectively over them.

OooooOooooOoooo

After some hours of Aang not moving as he watched over his group, he finally got out of his statue position, and looked out the window. It was still pouring down rain, and the lightning and thunder didn't seem to want to stop either. The Monk looked around one more time to make sure everyone was still asleep, and went over towards his things as quietly as he could. He got out his dark cloak, and even the black cloth, that he bought in Omashu, to cover up his lower half of his face. He pulled it over his head until the bottom of it reached his neck with only his eyes to show, and then put the cloak around him so that his Air Nomad clothes wouldn't draw too much attention _yet_. Aang then grabbed his staff, and started to walk out the door, until a hand caught his right shoe.

The gray eyed boy looked down and saw Toph looking up at him, with those pale green eyes, as she could _see_ that he had been planning to do something tonight. The Monk looked down, and knew she wasn't going to let him have _all_ of the fun in kicking some Rebellion butt, and she would follow him anyways even if he told her no.

"Come one." The Airbender said as quietly as he could, and together, they both snuck out of the house, leaving the rest to sleep in peace. They began running through the rain and mud, not seeing where they were going due to the amount of water hitting their faces, but was lucky to have learned Earthbending from the blind girl. The Airbender decided to let Toph lead the way in case there was security patrolling anywhere, as they ran through the small forest that Shing _hopefully_ into. Every now and then, Toph would make them stop because she heard could feel something, but it would always turn out to be a little animal roaming around. Aang was pretty happy that Toph had decided to come along with him, and that she too had disguised herself with the mud they were running through. Both of them ran up the hill of the mountain for some odd number of miles, until Toph held her left hand up in a fist.

She bent down, and put her hand against the squishy mud underneath. Aang got next to her, and did the same as she, so he could see what she saw. They both didn't want to say anything in case someone was hiding, but both could both feel the screaming of people down underneath their feet. The Monk and the Blind girl knew they were close to the entrance of the cave, but it was so hard to see with the rain not wanting to let up. But he _blindly_ followed Toph as they continued running through many trees and slipping through some mud. There was a big log that seemed good enough to hide for a second, and to catch their breaths. Aang pulled down the black cloth from his nose to under his chin, so he could breathe in some cool air. The Air Nomad looked down at himself and could see that he was covered in mud from his feet to even parts of his face, but he was glad for the camouflage.

Once they caught their breaths, Toph pointed behind the log as she tried to signal to him. Aang looked at her, and then lifted only his eyes look over the log, not wanting to be seen still. Just in time, lighting struck again and caused the world to light up, as he could see that they had finally reached thee cave entrance. With the small flash, he could see that there were no soldiers blocking or guarding it. Aang looked up, down, and side-to-side around them to make sure all was clear. The Monk moved his hair out of his eyes, so he could see better, as he looked for another few minutes. The rain still wasn't letting up any, and neither was the thunder as it would echo through the woods. At times, the light would play tricks on him, making the trees look like people, but Toph seemed to show no sign of them being in danger. Aang then put a hand on her shoulder, indicating that he was ready when she was. And when she gave the final nod to him, they both crept up to the cave entrance, hiding behind any tree or rock that would be in front of them.

When climbed up it, there seemed to be no hint of light at all, which meant that his reliance of Toph was going to be needed once again. Aang leaned his back against the wet stones, and brought his head around to look into the dark tunnels, and then pulled his head back against the boulders. They then waited for another thunder to come, before they could finally speak.

Once it did finally strike, Aang whispered as loud and as fast as he could. "I'll follow you. Let's go." Toph nodded in agreement as she took the first step. They both walked into the cold cave, with only the sound of water dripping down from the top and into the puddles under their feet. Aang pulled off his hood as he looked around in the darkness, trying to get a feel of the place, just as Toph had been teaching him. He was surprised to see that every step he took, his vibrations and the water could send it back to him. The tunnels were actually small enough for maybe two people to walk through shoulder to shoulder, and the height of it was barely grazing over his head as they walked.

The whole time, Aang was wondering if he was going to have to go into the Avatar State if he saw these new enemies, because he hadn't gone into it since he defeated Ozai. He was very scared that if he did do it, would the Spirit inside of him take over his body? This was not something that Guru Pathik had taught him, nor did Roku talk to him about. But Aang knew that if it came down to it, he would do it for protection only, just as the Monks had taught him. They taught him to be quick and light on his feet in a fight, and to try and not throw a punch at all unless it is _absolutely _necessary. Even when Sokka was beating him up, he could have easily blocked his every move, but knew he would continue to fight with him until Sokka was satisfied.

There were many holes in the side of this big cave, with lots of wolfbat's that were dangling above them. Toph stopped unexpectedly, which made Aang bump into her accidentally, but she was solid as a rock when he bounced off of her.

"To your left." she whispered low enough for her voice not to echo throughout the cave. Toph then grabbed his staff, and kept guiding him. He couldn't tell how long they had been walking around, but he no longer knew how to get out of this cave. They had taken so many turns that this place felt like a labyrinth, just like in the Cave of Two Lovers. Aang's memories floated back to that day when it was just him and Katara figuring a way out of there.

"_I have a crazy idea." Katara said as she looked at Aang with the darkness starting to surround them._

"_What?" the Airbender asked curiously at her._

"_Never mind. It's too crazy." she said, knowing it was a _very_ crazy notion._

"_Katara, what is it?" he asked again, really wanting to know what was on her mind._

_The Waterbender turned away from him, "I was thinking, the curse says we'll be trapped in her forever unless we trust in love."_

"_Right." Aang said, knowing that already._

"_And here it says, "Love is brightest in the dark" and…has a picture of them kissing…" she said, pointing to the stoned pictures on the wall._

_The tattooed boy was still clueless as what she was trying to say, "Where are you going with this?"_

_When he asked her this question, her cheeks became very hot and she was happy for the shadow of the fire to hide them for him. "Well, what if we kissed?"_

_Instantly, the world came crashing down on him as he asked in a shocked manner, "Us kissing?" Not sure if he heard correct, or if his mind was playing tricks on him._

_Now Katara kind of regretted suggesting it, "See? It was a crazy idea."_

_Aang was still in his fantasy world, "Us…" he said dreamily at this genius idea, "kissing." This was something that he had been thinking about a lot, and had wanted to do it since Aunt Wu made a prediction to Katara that she would marry a _powerful_ bender, which gave him the confidence to go after her. _

The Airbender had made a promise to himself that night in 'The Cave of Two Lovers' that he would _never_ kiss another girl for the rest of his life; because there was no one, who could even come close to the way Katara made him feel, when her lips were on his.

Suddenly, Aang's memories got disrupted as he and Toph heard the whimpering of people; the kids seemed to be to the left, and the others were to the far right. If Aang hadn't relied on his ears, he would not have heard any of them; because huge boulders were blocking the doorway to the people, from what their feet could _see_.

"You go towards the kids, and I'll get the adults." Aang said with another small whisper, and then they both separated in their own opposite directions. The Airbender ran up a steep slope that went up, and would have been slippery if not for his airbending on his feet. They were about half a mile away from each other, but it wasn't too far for the Monk to run by Toph's side in seconds if anything went wrong. Aang scanned his hands over the smooth rocks, until he could feel a change in the texture. The Monk put his hands up high as he felt around it, and could tell that anyone who wasn't a great Earthbender could never move this rock. The giant boulder was five times his size, and the length of Appa's body.

When he finally reached the end of rock, he got to the side of it and placed his shoulder on cool boulder. The Air Nomad took a deep breath in and exhaled it out, as he tried concentrating all of his strength into his chi, and began to think like a rock. With everything he had, he pushed the huge boulder, and grunting at every step he took. It wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be, but it was still just as stubborn like Toph. He had taken maybe ten steps before he finally felt a small wind blow against him. The opening was a little higher than his own height, with the length of both of his arms he examined, and then stepped in.

Aang heard a lot of gasps, and coughs of sickness that filled the air. The room was very cold, as Shing had described to him, and he could feel the drops of water dripping on his head and down the side of his face. The Monk held out his right hand, and made a fire in the middle of his palm that was bright enough for him to see. Everyone grunted at the light, and seemed to turn away from it. The place that they were in was massive, with many people attached to the walls, with maybe a legs length from each other. They all looked like Shing did, if not worse.

Then a man spoke, "Take me. Do whatever you want to with me, but leave my girls out of this."

Another man said, "If you want to fight someone, just unlock these chains, and I'll show you how it's done!"

A woman then declared, "I'll kill you if you touch my baby boys!"

The Avatar was surprised to see them still have so much passion in wanting to fight this mysterious group, and as he already learned, these people would give up anything to save their own children. Firebender's or not, they were willing to fight to the death.

Then Aang heard a voice that he seemed to recognize, "Dang blame it!" he said in an old mans voice, "Get away from us, or I'll show the meaning of fear!"

The Airbender went towards the man that just talked, and when he shined the light on him, he closed his eyes and turned away. The man had a bald cap with brown spots on his head, and white hair that went from his chin to and connected to the hair just above his ears.

"Old Man Ding?" Aang asked a little surprised, but then again he wasn't with everyone gone.

"Wha-Who, who are you? What do you want?" he tried to yell, but his voice started to break from his dry throat.

The Air Nomad looked up at his hands that were bound to the wall. He could see dried up blood that dripped down his arm, and many bruises that were new and old on him. He was much skinnier than he remembered, and looked sick pale. As he examined the walls and the metal, he had come to find out that he wasn't going to have time to metalbend all of them out, without wasting too much time. Aang knew he was on a tight schedule, because there was no way that _they_ had not heard him moving the big stone.

The Monk looked down at the Ding, who still had his eyes closed tight. "I'm hear to help." he said, and then backed away from them all, until he was in front of the opened walkthrough in the wall. The light went out in his palm, and then he focused again on _all_ of the metal in the room. Again, he breathed in and out a few times, trying to get the feel of the giant cave. Once he felt every single one of the metal chains, Aang raised his hands up, and began pulling them out of the walls. The whole cave began to shake as he did this, but he knew it could hold out for a little bit longer until he got them all out. Finally, he heard the chains pop off of the walls, as they still remained handcuffed to their hands.

He heard small joys of hope come into their voices, and then Aang made a fire in his hand again, but not so blinding this time. "Everyone, I need you to grab hands and come towards the light." he said, not caring if his echo would carry anymore. The People of the village did as they were told, and began to crawl to him, as you could hear the sound of metal on rock. When they had reached him, the Monk stuck his staff out to a woman in worn out Fire clothes that had many pieces of her maroon outfit ripped.

"Grab my staff." he ordered her to do, as he barely grazed it against her hand so she could know that he was talking to her. The woman grabbed it, and then Aang said, "Hold onto each other tightly, and we'll get you out of her!" he yelled at them all, hoping everyone would listen to him.

This is exactly what Katara made them do when they were in the desert, so that no one would get left behind as they moved 'together.' But this wasn't just four people to hold hands with; it was maybe one hundred if not more.

"Does everyone have a hand?" he yelled towards them all as it bounced of the walls many times.

As he heard the many yeses surrounding him, he began to pull them out of the hole, and leading them back to Toph's location. When he got to the slippery slope that went down now, Aang's pace slowed down so that he wouldn't have people sliding down and hurting others as well as themselves. Once he was down, he had long last reached the Earthbender, who had the same idea as he did to make the kids hold hands. All of them were wet, and had mud on their faces, but seemed to have hope in them now.

"Toph," Aang said, "take my staff and get these people out of here! I'm going to go back and check to see if anyone got left behind!" He then handed her the closed glider, and asked, "Do you remember how to get out of here?"

The Blind Girl gave him a smile against the fire "I could do it _blind folded_ Twinkle Toes! Now go!" she said, and began leading them out of cave. Toph could feel that they didn't have much time, with all of the shaking of rocks under her feet.

"Everyone!" Toph yelled, "Hold on tight, and try to keep up with my pace!" And with that said, they all began to run with the Earthbender, blinded by the darkness around them.

The Monk ran as fast he could back towards the hole where the adults were, and yelled out into the room, and caused a huge sharp rock to land a few inches from his feet. Instantly, more and more rocks began to fall down in the massive room, and then his eyes barely saw someone trying to dodge them. Aang ran towards him, as he was hitting rocks away from him while they crumbled down onto him. After dodging some sharp points of stones, Aang had finally reached the crawling man. It was Old Man Ding. The Monk picked him up by his left arm, and started helping him move. Aang decided made an air bubble around them so to be protected from the boulders above them that didn't want to stop falling. But the rocks were getting heavier and heavier as they continued to fall on him, and with only one arm to help him, he was starting to his strength. All of those past couple of days of no sleep at all, was beginning to take a lot from his physical strength.

More and more rocks began to pile onto him, until he had at long last reached the small opening. The entire room collapsed on top of his bubble, and ended up breaking through his air bubble. Then Aang felt something hard hit him on the right side of the head, and made him black out, but not before he felt someone push him on the back and to the hard, wet stones.

Aang didn't know how long he had been knocked out, but only hoped it was for a few seconds at the most. He opened his eyes, and could still only see darkness, but could hear someone talking to him in slow motion. The Monk got on all four slowly, feeling rocks dropping next to his body, but everything still seemed fuzzy to him as he tried to look. He then summoned the fire back into his hands, which made his eyes and head hurt more. Then the voice was starting to become a little clearer as he heard Ding yelling at him.

"Go! Save yourself!" he said to him. Once Aang's hearing got better, his vision was still a bit hazy, but he could see. Ding was pinned down by piles of rocks that covered him from the waist down. The Airbender stood up, and staggered a bit, as he felt the world spinning around him. He had no idea how he was dodging everything, but he was. Aang shook his head, which didn't help, and went to the pile of rocks that was on top of the old man.

"Get out of here! I have lived my life, let me die here!" he yelled again at the stupid boy before him, as he could no longer feel his legs.

Aang looked at the rocks, and tried pushing on them with one hand, but it was like the first time he had ever tried to move a rock. He knew that his mind was beginning to focus on his head injury, as he felt a warm liquid coming down the side of his head.

The Airbender looked down at Ding, and said, "I can't leave you here. You saved my life, and now it is my turn. I promise I'm going to get you out!" he yelled back at him, and tried to push the rocks again, but with no success. Then Aang thought of something else, hoping he had the strength to do it.

"On the count of three, I am going to lift these up, and I need you to crawl as fast as you can from underneath!" he hollered at the crushed man, as Aang airbended a rock coming down towards him

"Forget about me! I have no reason to live anymore! _Please_, leave me here!" he said grabbing the boy's ankle as he looked up at him with a fire in his hand. Aang looked down at him, and could see the fear in his eyes, knowing that he truly didn't want to die this way.

"Three!" Aang said, and then the flame went out as he got in his horse stance, and began to lift the heavy ton rocks off of him. He could only hold it for a few more seconds, as his breathing was getting faster now and his sweat was increasing. Aang couldn't hold it any longer, and let it go as he fell to his knees gasping. And then the Demon started feeding off of his fear and physical pain, but Aang continued to fight him off as tired as he was. He knew the Spirit wasn't going as hard as he could against him, but his entire body felt like it had millions of tiny fire ants biting at him. The Avatar fell to the floor, and started to shake on the cold concrete underneath him, but he could on feel fire on him.

"_You're weak!" the laughing voice said, "Just like the rest of your people!"_

"No!" Aang yelled, and grabbed his head with both of his hands tightly as if it would make the pain go away. "Ahh! Leave me alone!"

Ding didn't know what was happening to the young Hero, nor could he even see it, so he tried to talking to him.

"I need you Boy! You made me a promise, and I ain't going to let you break it now!" he yelled in the direction he thought Aang was in.

"_Am I too weak?"_ Aang thought in his mind, as he continued to feel the rocks piling up beside him, and not crushing him somehow.

"_No Avatar Aang." said the same woman's voice that helped him once before. Her soft voice was so beautiful to him, but he still couldn't recognize it. "Your strength is not in your physical self or your chi, but it is within the love in your heart. It is something he can never take away from you. Open your eyes. Aang, the last Airbender!" she said, as her voice began to die down._

The Avatar did as he was told, and when he opened his eyes, his shaking stopped completely and his body temperature was dying down. He still felt physically tired, but he had to keep moving. The Monk put a flame back into his hand, and saw that the rocks had piled up around him, and not one had entered into the center. He then looked around again, and saw the wet old man, who had crawled out from under the rocks like he ordered him to do. Aang then stood up, still feeling dizzy, but he continued towards to him on the Airbender's left.

"Can you walk?" he yelled, and then examined Dings legs, to see that they were bleeding and possibly broken.

"I'm trying to, but I can't feel my legs!" he said.

Aang looked at his face, and could still see the fear of death in him, and the Avatar was going to change that. So, he put the light out for a few seconds and rolled him onto his back, then he grabbed his right arm, and crouched underneath the arm he had. Aang pulled him up onto his shoulders, with all of his strength that was still left in him. The Monk stood up, as he was holding both legs and one arm in front of him. Ding's chest laid between his shoulder blades, while his head rested on the Airbender's back left arm with one hand hanging loose behind him. Aang jumped a little to change the balance on top of him, and then summoned all of the broken rocks around him into another sphere of protections, leaving a hole big enough for his face only and room for his feet to run. He would then blow fire out of his mouth, just like Zuko taught him, in order to see. It was hard with so many vibrations to feel where he was, but he still used it as well as the light to see if anything might fall on top of him

Everywhere he turned; it was either blocked off, or crumbling down. The Monk was starting to panic, and tried to head back a different route as the sharp boulders continued to hit hard against his shield, which it made it nearly impossible for him not to trip. Ding was light on his shoulders, but he was getting heavier and heavier for him as he tried to find another exit. Most of the time he would make his own exit, but his strength was dying down, and he didn't know what would happen if he went the wrong way to make it collapse on top of him. Aang pushed on anyways, with every step, his physical self was losing this fight.

He tried to put all of his energy into his chi, for both his and the old man's protection. He then blew fire out of his mouth, and saw something glistening in the bottom of it, and he went towards it. Aang knew he could go into the Avatar State, but after what just happened with Ozai, he wasn't sure if he could really fight him off. He stumbled upon a lake of water, but it was so cold that it went straight through his shoes, like knives were poking at him. His idea of swimming through it wasn't smart, because even if he did form a bubble around himself, like Katara always did, he didn't know how far it went. He considered trying it anyways, but threw that idea away since he was barely able to hold the one that was already encircled around him.

"There's no other way." he said to himself, "I have to go into the Avatar."

Aang began to shake fear at this idea, but knew that he had no choice anymore. He started to calm him self with his breathing, feeling all of his charkas beginning to flow through him, but stopped when felt a different kind of shaking under his feet. It wasn't like the crumbling of rocks, but more of _someone_ hitting them. Then he heard the separation of boulders, somehow over the noise of other giant stones smashing around him, and could feel a small breeze that felt so wonderful against his sweat. And if his eyes were correct, he saw a small light in this new tunnel that had been made. Without a seconds thought, he ran towards it, feeling the burning in his thighs and calves. When he finally got there, he found out it was Zuko, and Toph who had been waiting for him. Once he took a few steps inside the circled tunnel, he released all of the rocks that surrounded him back to the floor, and began to try and keep up with his friends pace.

"Let's go! I can't hold it much longer!" she said, as it echoed back towards them while she running. The cave was maybe only a couple of mile deep, but it felt like an eternity of getting out of there. Every once in a while, Toph would have to stop, and make an 'X' with the ground underneath her, in order to hold it up the walls longer. Aang could feel the stones collapsing on the back of hills, and if he even fell an inch behind, those boulders were going to crush him easily. Usually the Monk could run like the wind, but he didn't want to leave his 'Rescuer's' behind so he ran at their pace, which made it harder for him with Old Man Ding still on his shoulders. Finally, after so much running, Aang could see the yellow light of the sun. He never thought he would be so happy in seeing this bright light, but as he got closer, it began to hurt his eyes and made his head throb in pain.

Toph stopped a few yards away from the new cave entrance, and held it up with her arm with palms facing towards the cloudless blue sky, which would only happen after a huge storm that just occurred. Once he was finally out, Aang fell to his knees hard, almost falling over face down. However, sucked up the last part of his strength, and then laid Old Man Ding down, who seemed unconscious, but still breathing none the less.

The Gang had felt the earth shaking in the house that they were staying the night in, and when Katara looked around, she immediately noticed Aang and Toph missing and knew exactly where they were. They all woke up and then went outside to look at the tall mountain that was releasing it wrath on its sides. Appa had just landed right in front of them, and they all hopped onto him, except for Teo, who knew it wasn't a good idea if he went so he stayed with Shing.

There were maybe two hundred people there, and not even half of them were kids. Katara had been taking care of the survivors, and checking for any wounds that they might have from the avalanche of rocks that came crumbling down the mountain side. They were _very_ lucky to have an Earthbender like Toph around to protect them, and lead them out of those dark tunnels. The Blind girl had told Katara and the others to stay behind while she went back to get Aang, but Zuko went with her anyways. The minutes were passing by, and the Waterbender didn't know she would find the Airbender, or if he had even survived. Katara shook that horrible thought from her mind, not sure if she could live without him in her world, friend or not. The Waterbender felt a shaking to her left, and when she looked over she saw a cloud of dirt forming where Toph made a hole.

"You guys take care of them!" Katara ordered Suki, Mai, and Sokka to do, while she ran off towards the closed up tunnel. When she got there, she could see Aang down on all fours and breathing hard. His cloak was torn at the bottom, with holes everywhere else around him. His face was muddy, as his wet hair stuck to his face, and seemed to be at the point of passing out. She wasn't quite sure, but she thought that she saw dried up blood on his right cheek. Katara's first instinct was to go to Aang, but he instead pointing down to Old Man Ding.

The Air Nomad squinted through his eyes as he watched the Waterbender look at Ding's wounds and realizing that his legs were definitely broken and still bleeding. Aang started to feel light headed which made him fall on his left side. He shifted his weight so that he could lay down on his back, and feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He was still breathing hard, and feeling the sleep take hold of him, but he made himself stay awake. Katara healed the old mans cuts until they were scabs, but here was nothing she could do for his crushed bones.

"You two." Katara said to Zuko and Toph, "Take Old Man Ding back to the village, and I'll help him out." she pointed her head towards the fatigue Airbender.

"I'm. Not. That. _Old_." he said to them, which made Toph smile at the old geezer. Zuko and her picked him up by the arms and legs, and headed towards Appa who already had a few people on his saddle.

All of Aang's clothes were covered with mud from head to toe on him, as well as some blood on his left, bare, shoulder possibly from Ding's legs. She then looked at his face, and saw some scratches on him that were slightly bleeding, but it was his head that she was mainly concerned about. Luckily, it seemed to have grazed his right side, but it still looked like it hurt pretty badly. Aang was still squinting his eyes at the Goddess before him, as her hair was blowing in his face. The fragrance of pink carnations still smelt _so_ delicious to him, and the feel of her hand on his skin sent electricity to him. Strangely, he felt a small tongue licking the mud off of him, and when he looked over, he saw his favorite little Lemur purring at him. This made the Avatar smile a little, as he continued to tickle him.

After a few minutes of catching his breath, the Monk got up on his elbows, and pushed himself up with Katara to help him. Aang looked at her face, and could see that she was filled with passionate anger towards him. It wasn't the same fire that she already held against him, but it was for his _stupid_ move in deciding to go into the mountain without telling anyone. The Water Tribe girl grabbed his right arm, and helped him stand up as she placed her hand on his where his clothing did not cover. The Airbender didn't intend to lean more on her than he normally would, and he was sorry for doing it, but he could barely hold himself up as they walked back down the hill slowly. They were both silent as they had already reached the three quarter mark to the village, and Katara had to speak her mind before they got down.

"Do you not know how dangerous and stupid it was of you to do that _Aang_!" she said, knowing full and well that she had _finally_ said his name out loud. She expected to feel a tightening in her chest, or stomach, but instead she felt almost as light as a cloud.

The Air Nomad looked down at the concerned look on the blue eyed girls face, as she said his name, without 'Avatar' being somewhere in there. "I know, I know, but I couldn't take the thought of people dying because of my…disappearance."

"You _can't_ keep doing this to yourself! The next time you could get seriously hurt, and from what Toph said, you were _very_ lucky that you weren't crushed!" she said with much fury of worry in her voice. "The world cannot afford to lose you right now, because you want to go off and play _Hero _by yourself just because you think it's entirely your fault!"

The Airbender stumbled a little bit as Katara's grip tightened up on him even more, and brought him to a balancing walk. The mud wasn't very cooperative with them walking down, but they somehow managed it. He knew she was right, like always, but it wasn't easy for him to accept it like she seemed to have been able to.

Aang could see the town getting closer to them now, and he needed to go ahead and tell her that it wasn't simple for him. "Katara I do agree with you that it was stupid, and if I had gone on with my plans of going alone, instead of with Toph, I probably would be dead. However, I don't regret what I did. I felt like it was the right thing to do, and I just couldn't sit around as the words of Shing haunting me through me the night. I wanted to help him find his parents, as well as the others."

The Waterbender looked back up at him, still mad, but gave him a warm grin. "You know it was stupid though right? You couldn't wait for the rest of us to help you?

Aang laughed through his nose, "And what? Risk more life than necessary?"

Katara then made them both stop just a few more yards away from the village, and then loosened her grip on him a little bit more. She could feel him breathing as his side muscles would tighten in her palm, and sending more goose bumps through her body.

She didn't take another step until he looked down at her with those bloodshot, tired gray eyes of his, that stood out from the dark mud around his face, "_Your _life is important too Aang." she said saying his name again, and began to feel the butterflies in her stomach multiply.

The Airbender tightened his jaw, knowing what she meant by that. "Because I'm the Avatar…" he said in a depressing tone, and not looking at her anymore. Katara remembered that look very well; it was the same look he gave her when he kissed her on Ember Island during the intermission of the play. Instead of her telling him the truth of how she felt about him, she ran away, leaving him with a broken heart and ashamed at what he did.

There was a tree next to Aang's left, as she gently moved him against it to lean on, while his eyes went towards the small town. She let go of him, and walked right in front of him; trying to make the Airbender look at her, but his darted back down to her blue muddy boots. Katara put a finger under his chin that had dry mud on it, and brought him up enough for him to see her face. Then she put both of her hands on his face, feeling the dried up blood on his right cheek and not caring, because she didn't want him to look anywhere else, but at her. Aang's eyes went to the back of his head as he felt the leather gloves on his face, as well as her cool fingers touching him. It had been almost two weeks since they had even had a _slight_ moment of intimacy, or even the feel of each others skin, without him being wounded somehow. Aang wasn't going to lie about it, he _absolutely_ loved it. Katara then looked deep into those stormy eyes of his, trying to find the light behind them.

"No." she said to him, "It's because we _all_ love you, and we can't stand the idea of losing you a third time. The world does need you as the Avatar. But we need you as Aang; the boy who brought us _all_ together, and made a new family of arch enemies and new friends." she said speaking for the others, but more from herself. The Waterbender then saw that same smile that went all the way up to his ears, and the sun inside of her was beginning to heat up her body. Aang then grabbed her hands that still lingered there, and gently squeezed it as he brought it away from his face.

"Thank you Katara." he said in a whisper as he looked at her moist lips, urging to kiss them as his own temperature started to rise again. However, he decided against it, since things were still not good between them; and the last thing he wanted to do was mess it up again, like he always seemed to do around her. But he could feel his body not listening to him as he was getting closer to her face. Katara saw the Airbender starting to lean in towards her, but she looked back down the mud and decided to move her hands away from his; even though she loved the feeling of them wrapped around hers, and wanted to severely kiss him, but he was still hiding things from her. How could Katara trust him again, if he lied to her, and apparently didn't want to tell them why he disappeared, or at least that is what Zuko said? She then put his arm over her shoulder again, and began to walk to the now populated village, thinking of the reasons why he chose to lie to them and be hidden for so long.

Families and kids were hugging each other as if it was the first time they had seen each other, which was true in a way. People were also hugging Toph for her bravery in leading them out of that cave and protecting them from the rocks sliding down. They were also giving thanks the other members of the Gang, and asking questions of where the rest of their families were.

Aang and Katara both caught little Shing running towards his mom and dad, with tears and kisses of joy. The Waterbender and Airbender looked at each other, and began to smile at the reunion of the family as they continued walking. Soon, they were both crowded by the town's people, as they patted him on the shoulder, each telling him how thankful they were to him and that they were in his debt. The Monk smiled and nodded to each of them, as he looked around for Ding as Katara continued to carry him through the crowd of people. Aang looked over to the house where they slept, and found the old man leaning up against the wall while Teo talked to him.

By the time he and Katara got over to him, Teo said, "Don't worry about it! Being paralyzed isn't so bad; you tend to get a lot a freebee's out of people!"

"Is that what you do now?" Aang asked to Teo, and making them to both put on smiles. Then he looked back down at Ding, bending towards him a little, "How are you holding up?"

"Besides the fact that I can't feel anything from the waist down, doing fantastic youngster!" he said with a grateful and sarcastic tone.

The Monk laughed a little, and then got serious. "Thank you Ding. Guess you're not too 'old' after all." he said, meaning every word. Aang then held out his arm, so that he could shake it. The crippled man looked up at him, and shook his arm firmly.

"That's what I keep telling people." he said happily that someone had finally realized it, and then he started to exam the kids around him. "Have we met somehow?" he asked as if he saw a déjà vu.

Aang let go of his arm, and stood up straight and feeling the soreness taking over, with Katara not willing to let go of him. "Yea, we have, under different circumstances. You take care of yourself Ding." he said, and started walking back towards Toph, while Teo told him about the advantages of being crippled.

When the Earthbender felt those light feet coming to her over the crowd, she walked over to him and handed the Avatar his staff. Aang grabbed it, and tried to lean on it more, as he gave Katara a brake from his heavy weight.

"Man, I love this Heroes praise! I've missed it _so_ much!" Toph said in an enthusiastic way.

Aang looked down at the Blind Bandit, happy to see her like this, but they couldn't stay. "Toph, can you go help Mai and Zuko with our packs. We need to leave soon."

"What?" she yelled in a high pitch as she stomped her right foot, "I thought you wanted those punks to know of your whereabouts?"

The Airbender laughed at the girl who pitched a fit. "Sorry Toph. These people have suffered enough, and I don't think we should stay here any longer. I learned that the hard way once on Kyoshi Island." he said, as he looked down at Katara. Remembering that she had warned him of their prolonged stay, and Zuko almost burned down Suki's home because he was having too much with his fan girls.

The Blind Girl gave them an angry look, and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Whatever." she said, and walked past them where Teo was helping with the supplies now. Katara and Aang looked back at the disappointed Toph, and when they looked back, a tall man with a brown beard, and shabby maroon and black clothes, walked up to them both, and bowed respectfully to them.

"Thank you Avatar for saving this village. I'm the Mayor of this town, and if there is anything we can do for you, we will." he said, not sure how they could, but wanted to try anyways.

"Actually," Aang said which made Katara look up at him, "you can. Can you tell me how many people are missing?"

The gleam in his eyes disappeared at the question, "…_All_ of our Firebender's are gone. Even some of the younger ones were taken too, which comes to maybe another 100 people."

The Monk took his arm and weight off of Katara completely, and tried to use his staff instead. Aang nodded already knowing that it was true, "Did you see any of these people? Was Hama apart of this by any chance?" he asked.

The man looked down, "I'm sorry Avatar…they kept bags over our faces the entire time. I couldn't even confirm the voices if I wanted to, because it would always change. But Hama's voice I would have recognized anywhere, but she wasn't there…are you planning on stopping these people?"

Aang looked at the older man, and then looked behind him to where people were now crying because they either lost their families, or were just now finding each other, like Shing did. The Airbender's eyes darted back to the Mayor, not knowing what or who he was facing against, but he was going to find out soon.

"I hope to." he tried to say with as much confidence in his voice as he could, while he held onto his staff. The Avatar didn't know how he was going to fight them if he didn't know who they were, and these people knew how to keep him guessing. He had hoped that he could find something in that cave, but he and Toph got their top priority done by finding and bringing these people back alive. And it was worth it to see Shing with his Mom and Dad, as they both couldn't stop hugging each other. He bowed to the man, and started to turn towards Appa. Shing looked over his Mom's shoulder, and saw his friends starting to leave.

"Aang!" he yelled into his Mom's ear, and then she released him from her firm grasp, as he sprinted towards the Airbender with white streaks on his dirty face.

The Air Nomad looked at the young boy, and saw him running to him. The little boy ran into him, and gripped the Monk around his waist. "Please don't go! I don't want you to leave!" he said, as more tears were flowing now. Aang looked down at Shing, and smiled as he bent down very slowly by using his staff for constant help.

Once he finally got onto his knees sitting tall, he took Shing's small shoulders into his hands and said, "I'm sorry Shing, but I have to. I need to help other people like you who have lost loved ones and friends…but I do wish I could stay." Aang gave him a bigger warm, which made the little boy give him a tight hug around his neck. The Airbender sighed with sadness as he wrapped his arms around him, wishing he could truly stay.

"Please bring back Ryo…he's my best friend and I don't know if he can survive without me. I always protected him from bigger kids, and now I can't." the boy said into Aang's ears. This made the Avatar's hug tighten around the little gray eyed boy, not wanting to make a promise that he couldn't keep, but he just couldn't let him down.

"I'll do everything I can to bring Ryo back Shing. _That_ I can promise you." he said with much passion in his heart to do everything possible, to find his friend as well as the other kids and Firebender's. Katara loved the way Aang was with this little kid, even though he was still young, he knew how to at least act like a loving father. It was something rare to find that kind of love in a guy, at such a young of age.

Shing let go of Aang and smiled with his teeth showing at him, knowing that he would keep his word. Then he looked over at Katara, and ran up to her too. She put her hands under his arms, and picked him up as she held him in her arms, as she cradled his head on her shoulders while she rubbed his hair. Katara rocked him lightly, as she felt her heart breaking for the little boy who begged her to stay too. The Waterbender kissed him on the side of his head, and told him the same thing Aang did.

"We'll find him Shing. But right now, I need you to be strong for your family now, as well as for Ryo's family. You take care of them." she said to the little brave soul that she held in her arms.

"Only if you promise to take care of Aang? I think he will need you too." he whispered back into her ear.

The Waterbender was surprised at his request for her, not understanding how he could possibly know that. However, Gran Gran, always said that a child can sometimes see things better than anyone else, and now she kind of believed it.

She nodded against him his cheek. "I will." she said, and tightened her hug on him one last time before she set him down, and ran towards Appa, and giving him a hug too. The Bison licked him a couple of times, with the echoing of his cute laugh that was very similar to Aang's.

Aang loved the way Katara was with kids, and how great of a Mom she was going to be. The Waterbender turned sideways to face Aang, and wiped a little tear that seemed to escape without her knowing.

"Well, if we ever get to parents, I guess we'll have had some practice." Aang said looking towards the brown haired boy, and then realized what he just did as he looked at Katara.

The dark skinned girl was shocked by his accusation, which made her mouth open slightly as she looked away from the Airbender for a few seconds. But with the idea in her head now, she looked back up into Aang's dried up muddy face and hair. She then turned her back to him and headed back to the Gang, with a small smile forming on her face.

The Monk hit his head onto his staff a couple of times at what he just said, and wishing he could take it back. "_Idiot._" he thought to himself and felt his headache worsen after he stopped hitting his head. Suddenly, he felt a small body land on his left shoulder, with a fury tail that wrapped around his neck. Aang looked over and saw Momo's big eyes watching him. The Air Nomad looked back at Katara, who was helping everyone else, and then back to the Lemur.

"Do you think it was stupid of me to say that Momo?" the Monk asked the little Lemur, who gave him an answer in his own language. "Yea, I thought so too." he said to the little fur ball, and walked back to the Gang, who were all tired, but ready to leave. Once everything was packed up, they waved goodbye to everyone, and flew into the clear blue sky. And after just a few minutes of being in the air, Aang fell asleep on the Bison's head, with the wind blowing in his muddy hair.

**So, if you guys just finished reading this, I need to tell you that you just read 30 Pages worth on Microsoft Word! That is LEGIT! I hope I gave EVERYONE what they wanted in this chapter, and if I didn't, sorry to disappoint :( Hopefully, I have pleased all of you KatAang fans out there, especially with what Aang said to Katara ;) Also, the part about Aang's tattoos is TRUE. I found it on a website, and they give you a LOT of details on the characters, as well as the chapters =)**

**Now, I stole a quote from another show, and if you can guess it...I'll announce the winners in my next chapter. I'll be surprised if anyone caught it *Hint: the quote is kind of near the end* and if you didn't catch it, it's cool. ;) Thanks again, and I look forward to reading your reviews, good or bad, I do read them ALL!**

**Peace and Love you Avatards**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey Avatards! First off, you guys kicked some serious butt in the Reviews/Comments of my last chapter! It was AWESOME! =) I really appreciate all of you who are just excited to see what happens next, and I hope this chapter makes you happy! Sorry again for my misspelling and grammar, I try really hard, but I still can't catch everything and neither can my computer :/ **

**I don't own anything of A:TLA. So without further or do, ENJOY!**

The Gang had been flying for about two days, hopping from island to island during that time. Katara was surprised at the good timing that Appa was making with the heavy weight he carried, and even when they did walk, they wouldn't go too far on foot. The Bison had grown much stronger, just like Aang did, and she wondered if their bond would change if either one of them did.

There were just so many things that she wanted to know about the Airbender, but the most important thing she needed to know is what he is hiding from them. She knew that Aang wasn't sleeping much due to the nightmares he was having, and he would say her name in it half of the time. Whenever he woke, she could hear him breathing hard, and when she would peak at him, she could see him covered in sweat.

The Waterbender had been watching him more closely, as he continued his training with Toph and Zuko. Zuko was very astonished at how amazing Aang's Firebending had gotten better over the year and half, because how it didn't take the Air Nomad long to beat the Fire Lord easily. The Monks challenge was still in Earthbending, but after a few more lessons, he and the Blind girl were neck and neck. She was giving it her all, while he seemed to be holding back on her. Aang told Katara that he was more afraid to get clobbered in his sleep if he beat Toph, and she never made him forget it, as she would rub it in his face that not even the Avatar could defeat her.

Katara had also learned that every night, before Aang went to sleep, he would always take out a letter from his pants pocket and read it for hours sometimes. She knew it was the same piece of paper that Sokka found, the night he beat up Aang, but unfortunately he said he never got to read it all. He said that he remembered her name, Ozai's, and a Guru named Pathetic, which the Waterbender knew that it wasn't his name. Aang had once told her about Guru Pathik, and how he helped him achieve in going into the Avatar state, but he never really explained them to her, except that there were seven chakra's.

"_So what's your strategy for taking him down?" Toph asked on the day of the Invasion that was about to happen in a matter of hours before he was going to face Fire Lord Ozai. "Going to get your glow on, and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" she said as she tried to _'reenact'_ how the Airbender would do it with her hands._

_Aang looked down to the grass, not wanting to fully explain why he couldn't go into the Avatar with Katara being there, but they did deserve to know. "I can't. When Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the Cosmic Energy in the Universe."_

The dark skinned girl wondered what it was when he first tried to explain it, and was curious if it was still a problem for him now, even though he could go in and out of the Avatar. The Monk was a mystery to her now; she thought that she knew everything about him, which she did, but he would turn around and surprise her somehow. She was happy to know that Sokka was warming back up to him, just as all of the others had, except for her. The blue eyed girl knew that she seemed to hold grudges against people close to her, like her Father, Jet, and Zuko as well. Now, it was Aang's turn. She hated not being able to talk to him like the old days, correct him on his waterbending, or to even listen to what was causing him these nightmares.

"So where exactly are we?" Zuko asked Sokka who was still looking at his map, as the others were wondering the same thing too. Like always, Teo flew on the left side while Aang was on opposite side of Appa, so as not to make the weight any heavier on him.

After some minutes of having the map right in Sokka's face, he finally put it down in front of him and pointed out their location. "Well after Hama's Village, we went south for a little bit," he said pointing at one of the islands, "and then headed northeast." His index finger glided over five small islands until his finger stopped on an even smaller one. "If everything is right, and we just passed Jang Hui where Katara pretended to be a Spirit, then…we are back to where we first began in the Fire Nation."

"A _Spirit_?" Mai said with one eyebrow lifted under her dark bangs, as she didn't know what they were talking about. The rest of the Gang did, due to the Ember Island Play that they went to, that summarized everything that they did…horribly.

Katara just shrugged, but Sokka told her the story anyways. "Katara pretended to be a Spirit called the 'Painted Lady' who is a supposed River Spirit." he said using his hands to put in quotations, "And the Fire Nations factory was polluting their River, so she and Aang destroyed it. This then lead to a fight with the mad Fire guys, so we 'pretended' to make Katara this all mighty powerful Spirit, and she drove them away. I gotta say, it was a pretty ingenious idea. She kicked some serious butt, _with _some help from all of us as we drove the Fire Nation away. I think it was my flute sounds that truly drove them away in my _personal_ opinion, and you know what, I don't even think there is a 'Painted Lady' to be honest."

Mai yawned after the story was told, with no more interest in it anymore. This made the Waterbender smile to herself, as she didn't tell him that she was indeed real and that she had come to her and thanked her. The only other person who knew about this was Aang, and he said that Spirits don't come to you, unless they deem you worthy. And in Katara's case, she was indeed worthy after she helped fix the polluted water, _and_ drive the Fire Nation away with Aang's help.

The Monk had overheard this, and hovered above Sokka, "I wouldn't question the existence of any Spirit Sokka. It's like the air we breathe. Even though we can't see it, it's still there." And with that said, Aang did a couple of barrel rolls underneath Appa and returned to the right side of the Bison.

"So which island is it that we are near?" Suki asked, trying to get her fiancé to answer the question that was on everyone's mind.

"It's the same place where Aang went to school and decided to have a 'secret' dance party, for those Fire kids." Sokka announced as he rolled the map up, and place it in his Earth Kingdom bag that he still had when they first met Toph.

"Wait." Zuko said, amazed again at this new information, "Aang went to a Fire Nation school, and wasn't discovered as the _Avatar_?"

Katara spoke up, "Well it was an accident really. Aang was wearing the clothes for the school, and some guards came and took him there. Luckily, he had grown his hair out, not as long as it is now, but it did cover up his top arrow on top of his head, while the headband that he wore covered his forehead." The Waterbender said, as she recalled him actually liking school and wanting to go back, because he wanted those kids to be able to express themselves. And it was also the night that they danced too…a night that she would still dream about every now and again.

"So why a secret dance party?" Mai asked with absolutely no curiosity this time, as she leaned her head on Zuko's shoulder.

"Apparently," Toph began, "Aang thought those kids needed to have some fun, so he threw them a party." she said, and leaned back with her hands behind her neck. "Air Head seemed to have some pretty fancy feet while he was dancing, especially when it was with Katara."

This made the Waterbender blush a little, as everyone looked her way. She turned her head to look at the clouds in the sky, as she remembered that amazing night.

_Katara had her left hand on her cheek while and leaning on it, as she was looking away from everyone else who was having fun with Aang. She was happy that he had found new friends and seemed to be changing their spirits a little, but the only part she didn't like was when Sokka made the assumption of Aang and On Ji "looking pretty good together." The blue eyed girl didn't know why she was feeling this way. She had never felt this way before, but she knew there was _maybe_, _perhaps_, if at _all_ envy in what she was seeing. There was definitely a relationship between the Airbender and the Waterbender, but maybe he didn't like her that way after all…_

_By about this time, Katara dragged her eyes to the ground in front of her, to see someone Fire Nation shoes on. When she looked up, she saw a hand extended to her, with a confident smile on Aang's face. He just left his hand out there for her, still inviting her to dance with him anyways._

_She hesitated, "I don't know Aang…these shoes," she pointed down to them with both hands and acting nervous, "aren't really right for dancing" Katara started to ramble on with more excuses to come up with as she played with her hair, "and I-I'm not sure that I know how to-"_

_Aang could tell she seemed a little scared, which wasn't like her to come up with excuses, but he pushed her since he felt pretty confident in himself right now. "Take my hand." he said with a warm smile, which melted all of Katara's doubts of him not liking her._

_Katara grinned back, "Okay." she said, taking his right hand, and he pulled her to the center of the ring and together, they dance in a Waterbending way. But after a few seconds, everyone had stopped what they were doing and formed a circle around them, as they watched their moves with much amazement. _Now_, she was starting to get nervous again as they continued on, and not stopping._

"_Aang," she said with her eyes darting around the group of kids, "everyone's watching."_

_The Monk didn't know what she was talking about, because the only person he could truly see in the room was her. He knew the students were still there, but everyone was invisible except for the girl he had fallen madly in love with._

"_Don't worry about them." he said smiling at her again, "It's just you and me now." Instantly, if he was correct, the Airbender could have sworn that he saw her blush a little, but figured it was a trickery in the candle light. _

_They both continued to dance, and the Waterbender's vision of the people around her began to disappear too. There was no war, no pain, no suffering, and no thought of what other people were thinking now. Both Masters of water were starting to sweat now in the heated cave. Katara did a small spin move, and then they came into one another, inches from each others face._

"_Whoa." They both thought as the distance from them was very close, and then they both smiled again at each other, at the same time. _

_Their 'dance' continued with one time of Katara doing a spin kick, and then twirling herself around, and jumping everywhere. The Waterbender did a back flip on her hands, and jumped up by using her arms, to land on her feet. She then reached for Aang's left hand, which he gladly grabbed as he spun her out once, and pulled her down into his other arm. She looked up, and could see that they were both out of breath and sweating like crazy now, and just couldn't look away from each others eyes. She could tell Aang, but he held onto her, with no discomfort at all. They didn't even notice the cheering around them, or that the music had finally stopped. It was the most _perfect_, and breathtaking minutes she had with him while in his arms._

Aang looked over to his left, as he continued to fly, and saw Katara just looking at him. It wasn't like a stare, but more of a memory that somehow involved him with it. The Airbender had been watching her protectively all of the time, making sure that his plan of bringing out the enemy wouldn't interfere with her getting hurt. But it seemed like no matter where they went, they weren't coming after him...which frightened him a little. The Air Nomad moved his glider to the left, so he could land on the saddle, and twisted his staff in his hand, landing softly between Toph and Katara.

"So, I think Appa needs a break. I saw an island a couples miles farther, and we should camp there for the night." Aang said, as he could see that his Bison was pushing it now. His Spirit Guide was doing an amazing job time wise, but he truly looked exhausted and the last time they made him do this, he fell asleep in the air. Aang didn't want that to happen again.

"Actually," Sokka said, "we were thinking the same thing. Appa is going to need his strength if he is going to go over the water with us. So we may end up staying two days instead, just to be on the safe side."

The Monk agreed with a smile, "Well, it's nice to see you have taken an interest in caring for Appa now Sokka."

"Of course I do! I mean without him, we might as well just throw ourselves into the ocean, and hold up a sign that says 'Free Meat'!" he said a little louder than necessary. Katara, as well as everyone else then gave him a mean look, as he was only thinking of himself again.

Sokka tried to make it sound better, "_And_ because I'm concerned for my fluffy tired friend as well." he said in a fake loving tone.

Aang rolled his eyes, "Where is that we are stopping at exactly?"

Suki decided to speak for Sokka, "It's the place where you had a dance party, or at least that is what he believes." she said nodding her head to the side at her fiancé.

A big smile crossed all the way up to Aang's ears, and raised both hands up in a fist as if punching the sky. "Flameo Hotman!" he said, happy to be making a stop there.

Then something struck Zuko, "Wait a second. Katara, isn't this the same school that you asked me to make a decree on requiring kids to dance?" he asked. The Monk was surprised by what Zuko proclaimed, and then looked over at Katara, as she felt Aang's eyes burning on her.

"Ugh, yeah. After seeing the way those kids were…I thought it would be nice for them to do it now with no punishment, especially with a new Fire Lord and all. Aang seemed to really have inspired them, and they shouldn't stop doing what they love just because Ozai and his past lives took it away. "

The Air Nomad was impressed that Katara had remembered about them, and that she asked Zuko to even consider it. Those kids were born to dance, but the past Fire Lords took it away from them, in order to have complete control over them when they got older. But Katara was able to help change that and he was grateful for what she did, and maybe she did it because she knew he would have wanted it too.

"Well," Zuko said, snapping Aang out of his thoughts, "I guess we will see if it was truly worth it then."

The Monk looked over at him, "Oh it will be. Those kids have a lot of fire in them, figuratively speaking. Besides, there is nothing wrong with us having some fun again."

Suki wasn't sure if it was a good idea, "But Aang, there is a Rebellion out there prowling on the Nations and you want to go dancing?"

The Air Nomad sighed as he looked at his friends. He could tell that they were starting to get irritated of each other, and their thoughts were on what happened at Shing's home. Yes, Aang thought about it a lot since they left, but he was still a kid, and some of them were too. Toph and Teo were close in age, while everyone else was in the Marrying stage; however he knew that they could have fun if it was there in front of them. Mai was going to be tricky, but perhaps some dancing will bring a smile to her face. Aang, just wanted to see his friends again, and to dance with only one person. Katara.

Aang then remembered what Guru Pathik spoke to him, when all he wanted to do was train hard and quickly, so he could get back to his friends. "You know, someone once told me, 'To live, is to play at the meaning of life. The upshot of this is that it teaches us once and for all that childlike foolishness is the calling of mature men.' And women, so to speak."

"Aang," Sokka said, "I'm trying to sound mature and all, but that sounded—really stupid. I think we should remain low, until we are out of the Fire Nation. They seemed to have caused enough damage here, so we will wait till we get to the Earth Kingdom."

Everyone was agreeing with Sokka, and when he looked at Katara, she just looked away and nodded with them too. The Monk couldn't believe that they didn't want to at least _try_ and comply with him on this, or even consider it. At first, he thought Zuko and Katara would perhaps be on his side, but when it came down to it, they chose not to.

Aang stood up, with his glider in his hand, "Fine." he said with a little bit of a temper, and then airbended himself onto Appa's head, and started to steer him to the island.

He then formed a cloud around them, because they wanted to lay low, and looked for a spot to land. The Monk was not in a good mood now, as he desperately wanted to see if his friends still expressed themselves any. He had left them, not knowing if he had truly made a difference in their lives. He wanted to see if he could change the world as regular Aang, and not the Avatar.

The dark skinned girl looked over at Aang, and could see that he hated the decision that they were making. He didn't mind telling the world he was back, if it meant for this mysterious army to come out, but they all figured it might be a good idea to keep them guessing for a little bit. That way if they slip up, or make a mistake, then perhaps the Gang could be there in time to capture one. But she knew Aang wasn't going to listen to them, due to his body language.

Zuko decided to say one more thing before they landed, "It might be a good idea if you guys change back into the Fire Nations clothing, just for a few days at least."

"Yes!" Sokka yelled, "I can finally wear my beard again!"

Suki looked at him, "You have a beard?"

"Hey, when you are in enemy territory, and the Avatar gets in trouble at a school, and then he asks you to be his father, you have no choice but to wear a beard!" he said defending himself.

"Yeah," Katara said, "but you didn't have to 'permanently' glue it to your face!" This made the group kind snicker at him, as they could see him pulling a stunt like that.

"Okay, I thought the whole point of traveling with Aang _is_ to expose him?" Toph asked. She obviously didn't know that they made this decision when she fell asleep, once she and the Avatar were back from the cave.

"Oh I'm sure word will get around from that village we were at. Trust me; if people have information of Aang, then it will spread like wild fire. We don't need them attacking more of my people if we can help it." Zuko proclaimed, and hating the thought of more and more people disappearing.

OooooOooooOoooo

Like always, Aang landed on the outskirts of the town, just as they had asked him to do. Once everyone got their stuff off of Appa, Aang said goodbye to his Bison as he soared back into the sky. Everyone did as Zuko asked, and changed into their Fire outfits. While the Monk was peering through his stuff for a few minutes, he looked up for a second at everyone, looked back down and instantly looked up again. Suddenly, Aang's body temperature started to get really hot as he looked at Katara, while she took off her pants, and was now left standing in her white bathing suit. His heart started beating around like crazy in his body as he looked at her perfect, dark skinned body that she had. He had forgotten how much of a beautiful, toned, body she had, and now that he thought about it, beautiful just didn't seem like the right word for this Angel. His eyes began to pour over her, as he tried to commit to memory everything that he saw. From the way her muscles would stretch on her back, as she bent down, to where he could see her flat stomach moving with her breathing. Aang wished they were near an ocean, so he could just jump into it and cool off as his eyes traced over her every move.

Just as Katara was tying up her red top, the Airbender felt a hand hit him on the back of his head, which hurt more than he thought possible. When he looked up, he saw Sokka standing over him, with his new sword on his right shoulder. He was starring him down, and then looked over at Katara who just took off her Mom's necklace, and put on a red one instead.

He looked back down at Aang, as he was bent at his bag. "Don't even think about it Air Head…least not yet." he said with a little smile, and walked hand in hand with Suki.

The Monk was happy to see that he had finally forgiven him, but he still had a lot to do to get his trust back. He was willing to do just about anything for things to get back to normal, and it seemed like things were definitely progressing between them now. Aang gave a small grin to this, and went back through his things; finding his outfit, and the stuff to hide his tattoos with. Little did he know that while he was changing clothes, with his back was turned, a certain Waterbender was eyeing him the same exact way.

Once they were all dressed and ready to go, they headed into the town. When they got there, the Gang was happy to see that these people were still living their lives. Streets were filled with crowds, kids playing, beggars begging, and markets filled with everything still. It was so different compared to Shing's home town, and he hoped that things would get better for them now. Aang had forgotten that meat was everywhere in this town, and it started to make him feel a little sick watching a cow hippo devour it in one bite. The Monk looked over at Zuko, who was staying hidden with his hood up, afraid that someone might recognize him because of his left scar on his face. Aang just didn't see the point in hiding out, but he was going to listen to them anyways…at least to some parts of it.

"I'm starving! Let's get some grub, before we head into an Inn." Sokka said, pleading with the group. And after about five more minutes of him complaining, they all agreed to cure his suffering.

"You guys go on ahead." Aang said, "I know they don't have vegetables in there, so I'll get some out of the dumpster."

It was like déjà vu all over for Aang, and Katara, as they both remembered what happened the last time he said this. But since he wasn't in his school uniform, she didn't think he would do anything too senseless again. They all waved him off when entering into the shop that had a door way with a long red cloth covering the exit. While they got their food ordered, Aang had finally found the trash, and began rummaging through it.

He was able to find half of a lettuce head, a day old tomato, and a couple of cooked mushrooms. But just before he was about to get out of the dumpster, he saw a lot of papers of the same size and writings on them. He bent down, and picked one up, that was smothered in grease from the food. It read:

_Dance off Party_

_Tonight at the Old Tavern_

_Bring your best shoes, and a Partner_

_Will include: food, drinks, and a good time. _

_Trophies will be given out to the 'Best Dancer' 'Most Creative' 'Best Party Pooper' and 'Worst Dance Ever'_

The Airbender smiled at this flier, and was happy to know that things did work out for those kids at the school. He then looked around, to make sure none of his friends saw him, and folded it up as he put it into his pocket. Then he headed back to where the group was just now starting to eat, and joined up with them. Aang saw Katara give a sigh of relief, as he sat across from her. They all enjoyed their meals, as Sokka gave them the thumbs up that he was finally satisfied with his full belly. By about the time they walked out, the sun was barely starting to set, and they all decided to get some sleep since their stomachs were _so_ overwhelmingly full now. They were all happy to see the town full of people still, and who weren't afraid of the dark. After walking through crowds of people, and up a hill, they finally came to an Inn called "The Dragon's Tail."

"This looks promising." Zuko said with a hint of smile in his voice, and then went inside with everyone behind him.

The Inn looked pretty empty, which was a good sign that they could all have a place to stay for the next two nights. The walls were made of white stones, with paintings of a blue and red dragon bodies stretching around the squared room, with the background of a blue sky and white clouds. Aang and Zuko instantly recognized them as the Masters, Ran and Shao, who taught them both that Firebending isn't destructive, but life-giving qualities of fire. The wooden floors still seemed to be in good condition, as well as some of the wood cut table and chairs. To the right, there was a little stoned stand that had papers stacked on top, and a Woodstock Desk Gong to the right side.

Sokka saw this, and ran to the right, and hit the gong once. When no one came, he did it again, but no one came still. Sokka liked the sound of the gong, and began playing a tune with it. Just when he was getting the beat down, a woman's old hands that felt like an old dried up leather, caught his hand and making him stop. When the Boomerang guy looked up, he jumped up in a scare of her face.

"Ah! Holy _Molly_!" he yelled, and backed up a little bit fro her. The older woman had gray white hair pulled up, with her face and body sagging down, and cold gold eyes. But the one thing that truly scared Sokka was the big, _huge_ mole that was above her right lip, and had three long pieces of hair growing out of it.

"Wha do ya want?" she asked with a cracking voice, and then started to cough loudly for a minute.

"Ugh…ugh, we molly want a room—I mean _maybe_, maybe want some rooms!" Sokka stumbled with his words, as he tried to look away from that black mole that seemed to have hypnotized him in a way that was sickening.

"Is there something on my face boy? Something you can't take your eyes off of?" she said, getting angry at the way he was starring at her.

Mai stepped in, not caring what this woman looked like. After meeting Li and Lo, the advisers for Azula, _nothing _could scare her anymore. "We need some rooms. Do you have any available?"

The old lady, with discolored teeth, looked at the pale black haired girl, and then opened up a torn up book. It had four lines on each page, one with the room number, the second line had the number of people staying in them, and the third was listed with names, and the fourth had the date and money paid. She looked back up at her, and then at the boy who as still starring at her.

"Sorry." she said rudely, and closed up the book. "But we are _all_ full. You can leave the way you entered." she pointed to the door, hoping that they would leave.

Then a young good looking man walked from the stairs, carrying down old sheets and blankets. He had light brown hair that had some of his hair spiked up in the form of a mountain, while the rest of his hair hanged from the side. He was about Aang's height, hazel eyes, tanner skin than him, but not darker than Katara, and a goatee. He wore black gray pants, with a Fire Nation outfit on, and a black headband with the Fire Nations symbol in red.

"Okay Grandmother." he said, looking towards her and the group in front of him, "The four rooms, you just asked me to clean, are ready for anyone wanting to stay tonight."

As soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he examined all of them, and then stopped at Katara. The Waterbender looked over at him, and then looked back at Mai without a car in the world. The Airbender saw the way he was awing at Katara, it made him grip his glider a tighter so as not to hurt him. Toph was to Aang's left, and could feel the tension of his body and the racing of his heart.

"Really?" Mai said the young man in a sarcastic surprise, as the she took out one of her daggers to play with in her fingers, "Well I guess luck has shined on us then. We'll take those rooms then if you don't mind."

The boy nodded his head, and said "Of course. Grandma, you go back there and take your medicine. I'll take care of these good people." Then the old woman starred down at them, and turned away as she walked back to the small room behind the desk. The brown haired guy put the sheets on the counter, and opened up the book again.

"You'll have to forgive my Grandmother. She tends to be a little cranky when she doesn't like you." he said, and dipped paint brush in some ink, "My name is Raiden by the way."

"Well, Raiden." Sokka said, "What is it that your cranky Grandma is taking medicine on? Besides to prevent that 'mole' from growing any bigger?"

Raiden's face turned serious at what Sokka said, "Actually that's exactly what it's for. It's a disease that only _death_ will cure for her in the end."

The room was silent at this new piece of information, and then it made Sokka feel awful. But then Raiden tried to hide his smiling from forming, and he just couldn't hold back his laugh any more. "Oh man!" he said still laughing at them all, "You should have seen your faces! It was priceless!"

Then Sokka started to laugh with him too, "Maybe they should give her some 'mole' medicine then!" he said cracking up at his funny joke, which made Raiden laugh too.

"Great." Toph said to Teo, "Sokka Jokes are bad enough, but now he has an audience to laugh at him…what is this world coming to?"

When the boys had finally died down on their laughing and wiped their tears away, he looked up in the book, and asked, "I'll need names, and who is staying in the same room."

They all looked around at each other, not sure if they should give out their names. "Zuko and Mai." the dagger girl said in a boring tone.

The hazel eyed man was about to write, but stopped as he looked at them curiously. "As in Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai?"

"Of course!" Mai said, and then Zuko gave her a look under his hood, "The most respected people in the Fire Nation have come to this island, and instead of going to sleep in a five fire Inn, we come to one that is a two fire!" she emphasized in a sarcastic mood.

Raiden looked back and forth at them, swearing that it was them, but it did seem pretty far fetched for them to be royalty. He laughed a little, and looked over at the man who had his hood up. "You're wife has a good sense of humor Mr. Zuko. She is definitely a keeper."

Then he wrote their names, and asked the others. Toph and Teo kept their names, knowing that no one would recall them. Sokka changed his name to his dad's and Suki kept hers, and decided to stay in the same room as well. Now, it only left Aang and Katara.

"Your name Miss?" he said, while he continued to smile and looked up and down at her, where his eyes remained on her exposed stomach.

Katara wasn't even paying attention to him, as she realized that it was just her and the Airbender left now. Usually, she would depend on Sokka to help her out, but she knew the real reason why they he and his fiancé wanted to stay 'together'. Toph told the Waterbender that she was tired of babysitting her, and that she needed to get over things with Aang. But it was easier said than done, although she was coming around to it very slowly; however, she definitely wasn't ready for this step yet.

"Kya." she said using her Moms name, "And I'll be staying…with…" Katara looked over at Aang, and he looked at her. He could tell that she was still a bit uncomfortable with the idea of him being in the same room. It was probably a good idea that they not stay in the same room, especially if it meant he didn't have to sneak away to go to this party. He hoped it was tonight, and not last night's party.

"You know what 'Kya'?" he said, "I think I saw a stable close by, and you know how much I like sleeping outside. So I think I'll stay over there." The Monk wasn't lying about this fact; it was nice to sleep out in the cool night sky with the stars watching over you. When Aang said this, Raiden's smile widened while looking down at the books, pretending to be reading.

Katara didn't like this idea, "No, 'Kuzon'. I think it's better if we stay in the same room. I'm perfectly fine with it." she said, a little shocked at what she just announced.

Aang just smiled through her lie, "I'll be fine. I tend to sleep better out there anyways." he said pointing back with his thumb. As much as the Airbender would love to sleep in the same room with her, he could just see she wasn't ready for that yet. He didn't want to mess up anymore with her, so he was just going to have to suck it up for now.

"Okay." Raiden said with too much of a happy smile, as he wrote Katara in a separate room. "I can show you all to your rooms now if you'd like. Kya, I can take your stuff if you would like?"

Katara looked back at him, "No. It's okay. I can carry it on my own." she said, but Raiden grabbed her stuff anyways, and started leading the group up the stairs. They all left Katara and Aang, alone, on the bottom floor.

The Monk rubbed the back of his neck, "Don't worry." he said in a gentle voice with a side grin, "I know where to find you if there is any trouble."

The Waterbender didn't like that Aang was going to be split up from them, because now she couldn't keep an eye on him. And the thought of them being in the same room…didn't sound bad at all to her. In fact, it sounded very _appealing_ to her, but she just didn't know what would happen. Katara was about to say something, but Raiden interrupted them.

"Kya, your room will be next to mine. So, if you need anything, _anything_ at all, I'll be right there to help you." he said, more enthusiastic than necessary. She then looked at Raiden, and then back at Aang who already had his back to her and was walking out of the opened sliding door.

The dark skinned girl gave the light brown headed guy a little smile, and together they walked up the stairs, as he showed her to the room. It was blocked off by a sliding door, and when he opened it for her, there were two beds on the floor. There were white sheets folded, as well as a dark red blanket underneath them, and a small window between the beds. The walls were all stone too, with more drawings of the two colored dragons that twirled around each other, until they met in the middle and blew fire at each other. Katara stepped in, and thanked Raiden for his hospitality.

"It's my pleasure." he said with a huge smile, "I'll be down stairs for now if you need anything. _Please_ don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of some assistance." Then he walked away, sadly, to check on the others before he went down the steps.

Katara looked around in the square room, as the silence filled up the room. She tried to imagine Aang being here with her, and making her smile at him as would stumble through his things. He seemed to always get nervous around her when they were in the same room, but she too, was starting to act in that same manner.

"Man." Toph said, as Katara turned to her, and could see her leaning on her left shoulder in the door way. "That was some crazy tension in that lobby down there."

The Waterbender agreed, "I know. That old lady was awful to us, and Sokka didn't seem to help any." she said bending down at her stuff to find her light blue comb, that was somewhere to the left side of her pack.

"Are you serious Sugar Queen?" Toph asked, not believing that Katara couldn't see what was going on.

Finally, Katara found her comb, and stood back up as she brushed while looking at the Blind girl. "What?"

"If I could roll my eyes at you I would! I was talking about the hostility with Aang! I never felt so much heat coming off of him, while 'Lobby Boy' over there flirted with you like crazy!"

Katara looked at her funny, "How do you know he was—?" but Toph interrupted her.

"I may not _see_ things," she said waving her right hand in her face, "but I could just tell in his voice. It changed when he started talking to you, and his heart was beating a little too fast for just wanting to 'help' you out. And I haven't felt Aang like this, since you were with Higen. Which, I'm guessing he still doesn't know about you and him?" she added. The dark skinned girl was about to lie to her, but Toph beat her to the punch.

"There is no point in lying to me Katara, especially with my _personal_ lie detector." she said.

The blue eyed girl sighed, "Fine…I haven't told him. You happy?"

The Blind Girl laughed through her nose as she just shook her head, "The real question is, are _you_ happy? I know that you love Aang, and even if Twinkle Toes hasn't said it to you yet, which I can't blame him, then I can tell you flat out that he does. I hear him saying your name constantly in his sleep, and his heart beat increases every time you are even near him. What is so complicated about you forgiving him? Everyone else has, even your brother is getting along with him now!"

Katara was starting to tear up, as Toph was throwing all of these things that she wasn't ready to face yet, back at her. "Because when he left, everything was important to me, didn't matter anymore! I felt like I was dying without him being there, and now, after all of those months of pain while searching for him, they are still emerging up. He _chose_ to leave, and he won't even tell me why, let alone, any of us! You can't expect me to forgive him that easily! Things can never be the same between us!" she was starting to yell, as the water from her eyes started to make a streak on her cheeks. The Waterbender rubbed them away, and bent back down to her stuff, and put her blue comb back in her pack.

Little did Katara know that Suki was against the wall, and listening in on everything that she was saying. Toph told her that as soon as she got her confession out, then Suki was going to have to talk to her. She hated drama, and she wanted this thing with Aang and Katara over with. Suki then walked in, as Katara wiped the rest of her tears away quickly. The Kyoshi Warrior put a hand on Toph's shoulder, signaling her to leave if she wanted to.

"Maybe _you_ can talk some sense into her!" Toph said, and spit to left side as she walked out, leaving the two girls alone…but would still be listening.

Katara looked at Suki with her eyebrows pulled together at the Auburn haired girl, as Katara realized that she was set up. Toph was one of the few people who could get her so angry, that she would say what was on her mind. Sometimes it was good, and other times, like now, she hated her for having that gift. The Waterbender closed up her bag and then sat on top of the flat bed and leaned her head against the cool stone. She pulled her legs into her chest, and put her head on her arms, not wanting to talk anymore. Suki decided to sit next to her, in the same exact position. They didn't talk for an hour, as Suki left the blue eyed girl to ponder on what Toph said to her. It wasn't easy hearing the truth, and she hated it.

Suddenly, Suki kind of laughed as a memory of Sokka came into her mind. "You know," she began, "when I first met you brother, I could already tell that he thought he was hilarious, tough, and the most sarcastic, selfish, pigheaded guy I had ever met on that island. It was absolutely funny when he tried to fight me, but I showed him who was boss, and it embarrassed him that he lost in front of my Warriors. When he asked for my forgiveness, for saying girls couldn't do what boys could, I at first, wanted to teach him another lesson. However, after seeing him on all fours in front of me, and giving respect to me and my girls, I chose to give him another chance. And after learning that there was actually a sweet guy underneath his 'muscular' self, I forgave him too. I never thought in a million years, that I would fall for a guy like him, and here I am engaged to your brother."

Katara didn't say anything to her future Sister-in-Law, as she tried to listen. "Sokka once told me about how he lost someone he was ordered to protect, and she ended sacrificing herself to save them all. That's a noble thing she did, and I think it took your Brother a while to forgive himself too. It's not easy leaving behind the people you love, and care about the most. And it may be hard on the ones left behind, but I think it's harder for others who live have to make the choice to do it."

The Waterbender turned her head to the left of the Kyoshi Warrior, with her hair kind of up, and the rest of it down. "What is your point?" she asked a little annoyed.

"Have you ever taken into consideration that maybe it hurt Aang to leave all of us, and that it perhaps wasn't easy for him to do this?" she asked, not caring anymore if Katara would hate her. "I think Aang is in more pain than you think. And his nightmares seem to prove that too!"

Now the dark skinned girl was starting to get frustrated, "So, your taking his side now? The same guy who abandoned us, without any reason as to why? Or the fact that he left me shattered in a million pieces as we looked for him!" she said, repeating what she just told to Toph. "No! Even after I told him that I loved him still, he pulls this stunt of becoming his _true_ self all of the sudden!" she bellowed out, remembering that night clear as day, and started up again on fresh tears.

Suki was shocked at this new piece information, "When?"

Katara wiped a tear away with her left thumb, "When what?" she asked.

"When did you tell him that you still loved him?"

"…On the beach that night, when Sokka attacked him…" Katara acknowledged through a sniffle.

Now the Kyoshi Warrior understood as to why Katara was still acting this way towards Aang. "That's why, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically, "That's why you can't forgive him, because you told him that you loved him, when he was pretending to be Kuzon."

Katara looked away from her as she had pierced right through her armor, while her eyes darted back to the Dragon's fire in the middle. She wondered if that was how they really looked, and how scary it would be to gaze into their eyes as they looked through your soul. She wondered if they could see right through her too, just as Suki just did.

"He played with my emotions Suki, and my memories! He said he didn't want to interfere with my new life, but he did! There were so many nights I cried, because it was so hard to stay away from him, as I thought of Aang! And now, now I know why it was so impossible for me to do!" The Waterbender shouted, and then started to cry harder, as she pulled herself into a tighter ball. Suki instantly put her right arm over her shoulders, and tried comfort her. She was a little surprised that Katara let her do it, but was more than happy to be there for her.

"I don't agree with what Aang did Katara, but it still proves on thing." she whispered, and let it soak in for a few seconds. "You still love him, and he _loves_ you. I watched you two, the day I found out his secret, and I could just see it in the way of your body languages. You're like mirrors, if you move, so does he, and vise-versa. You say you were hurting when he was Kuzon, but did it ever occur to you that it hurt him to see you with Higen? Do you think he felt the same way?" Suki asked, with many questions and assumptions being thrown at Katara, but she desperately needed to hear this.

For once, the dark skinned girl hadn't even taken into consideration how Aang felt about her being with someone else. Someone, who had kissed her right in front of him, and was _always_ around her too. She remembered him clenching his jaw, or tightening his hand into a white ball whenever Higen was there by her side. Katara also remembered the fire burning in Aang's eyes, but he never showed any aggression towards the other Waterbender. Never once did the Airbender try anything on her, except that one night when he ran off, but the only thing he was truly guilty of was getting to know her again. To listen to her and just talk like they used to do.

Suki could tell that a lot of things were going through her mind, but needed to ask her these last two question anyways.

"Katara, let me ask you this." she said, and waited for her to look up at her. Her face was a little pink, and filled with streaks of tears still flowing down her flawless skin. "If Aang came back that day, not as Kuzon but himself, would you have reacted the same way? Would you have hated him even more, or would you have forgiven him just as easily?"

The Waterbender thought for a few minutes, as her new Sister-in-Law left her to think. It was actually kind of nice to have an older sister there to ask her this kind of stuff, because it was never easy when you had a brother around you who would make gagging sounds when you mentioned things like this. Even though Toph was learning about boys, she still reacted the same way as she always did. Telling her that if a guy isn't tougher than her, than he wasn't worth keeping. She and Mai didn't really talk much either, but then again, she had never tried before.

"I-I don't…know…maybe?" she said in a whisper, but Katara knew the real answer, as did Suki. "No. I probably wouldn't have."

Suki sighed at her, and gave her a gentle smile. "You and Aang, have a special bond Katara. Sometimes, I would even envy you both…" she said, as if she was confessing her sins to the Waterbender.

"What?" she said with astonishment and wiped the last tear, "Why would you be jealous of me, or Aang for that matter?"

The Kyoshi Warrior moved her arm away from her shoulder, and then moved her body so she could see her full face. Suki sat on the backs of her legs, and placed her hands on Katara's, and said, "Because I believe the Spirits, themselves, created your amazing love for each other. And no matter the distance, or the tragedies of death or disappearances, you two _always_ find each other. Your love for one another is like a vast ocean that can never be disconnected from each other, as it spreads across the world. It was so hard for you to resist Aang when he was Kuzon, because his presence was near you, but your love was stronger for Aang and not Kuzon."

"But they were the same." Katara said, unless she thought that she dreamt the whole thing up, which she would gladly take in a heartbeat.

"Apparently not to you. Even though they were the same, you still wouldn't give in. Because of the name difference, _you_ were able to see that your love for Aang was still strong. And even when you wanted to give into the temptations, after learning _everything _about Kuzon, your heart belonged to only one person, and not to Higen, or Kuzon, but to Aang! If this isn't proof enough that you should be with him, then I don't know how you could ask for more!" Suki said, hoping that this was getting through to her. She knew it was going to be tough to accept this, but she had to hear it from someone else.

After she finished, the Waterbender just broke down crying again at this realization. Her mind had been on the thoughts of Aang doing so much wrong to her, that she too forgot that she wronged him as well. And that she was _more_ in love with him, than she ever thought she could be. Suki told her that Aang had suffered, and when she put it the way she did, maybe he truly did. She couldn't have imagined how hard it would be for her to see him with someone else. In fact, the thought of it was so foul, that it made her stomach tighten up enough to make her want to throw up. She didn't know how Aang was able to endure what he saw between her and Higen, but if it felt like anything she just felt, then he was stronger than any other person that she ever knew.

Finally, after ten minutes of Suki just comforting her and making her see things more clearly, she looked back up at her. She didn't bother clearing away her tears, as smiled at her new sister, happy to have someone like her to be in her future life. Suki was going to make a perfect Mother; especially if her kids ever fell in love with someone and denied it.

The Waterbender looked out the window to see that it had gotten dark now, and she didn't know how much time had passed. She looked back at Suki, "So…what do you think I should do then?"

Suki gave her a confused look, as she didn't know what to do. But then she gave her a sunny smile, "I think you need to forgive yourself first."

"What?" Katara asked, now even more confused.

"I think you blame yourself still for Aang running, and it wasn't your fault. Something happened to him that night…and we will probably never find out about it either, but you aren't to blame. And I know _he_ doesn't blame you either."

The dark skinned girl gave her a fake laugh, "You know, I don't think I could ask for a better Sister-in-Law." she said in the most loving way that she could.

Once again, the auburn haired girl was right. For so long she had been blaming herself, and maybe that was one of the other major things that was holding her back. There were other things too, but she hit her two weak points. The blue eyed girl then got out of her ball and sat in the same position as Suki did, and when she looked back down at her clothes, she saw her revealing stomach wet with her tears.

The Kyoshi warrior looked at her, and just felt the need to give Katara a big hug. She could tell that she caught the Waterbender off guard, but then Katara embraced her too. It had been so long since she felt this kind of a hug from anyone, because only her Mom could make her feel better. Toph seemed to only want to punch her, and Katara was happy to know that Sokka was lucky enough to find someone like Suki. It sounded impossible still, but she was perfect to join in with their family The chocolate haired girl felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, as all of her pain for Aang seemed to be going away slowly.

"Thank you Suki." she said, with more fresh tears of…happiness pouring over her face.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang had at long last found the Old Tavern, which seemed to be a little complicated to find. He asked many people where it was at, which some didn't know, while others gave him the wrong directions. He was just happy that he was finally here, and was a little excited too.

Before he left, Aang placed the piece of paper on the hay stack that he laid in, with all of the information as to where he went. He didn't need them to start freaking out if he wasn't there, and it seemed like the right thing to do. He knew that they were going to be mad at him, but it was going to be worth it to Aang. The Tavern that he was looking at was very old, with many holes in the woodened place; however, it still seemed doable. It was two stories high, with many windows that were shining with bright lights in it, as he saw shadows moving behind them. The Monk took a deep breath, and started walking towards it. When he went through the hanging black fabric, the music blasted at him as well as the heat in the room.

There were tons of kids there, with the outer of the rim filled with people talking and drinking with each other. Candles and torches were everywhere in this place, while the band played on the second floor so that everyone could have more room. A banner was hanging just below them that said "The Flameos" on it, and it made Aang smile that they kept his name nickname that he made up for them. They had a lot more musicians there too, as well as kids dancing. In the middle of the house, a sphere was formed as people did their own dances. Some of the moves were pretty cool, like one guy made it look like the floor was making him move back, another guy made his body move like the ocean on the ground, and then there was another person who was just swinging his arms and legs around like a crazy person. Aang seemed to remembered that guy from last time in the caves, but wasn't completely sure.

The Airbender released the fabric, and decided to get something to drink while he watched them all _express_ themselves. But as he was walking through with his drink that he hadn't even sipped, he saw five names on a pillar with the title above them that said, "Best Dancers." Aang smiled, and looked at the names, starting with number five, Amaya, four was Sayuri, third was On Ji, second was Shoji, and number one was _Kuzon_. The Monk shook his head, thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when he looked back up at number one spot; his fake name was still at the top of the list. Aang smiled widely at the kids around him that didn't seem to forget him, and it was touching for them to do this for him. The Air Nomad turned from the names, and then bumped into a kid that was about Katara's height, and sent his drink to Aang's right. The boy fell onto the ground, but didn't seem mad at all as he just kind of chuckled.

Aang held out his hand to him up, "My bad man." he said, as he helped the kid up.

The boy just dusted himself off, "It's all good. I wasn't watching were I was going." he said, and then finally looked up at his face. "Wait, do I know you?" he asked looking at him curiously, as if he was studying a painting that was he did, and realized he messed up on it somehow.

"Ugh…" Aang said, as he rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what to say. It only took him a second to realize that this was Shoji; the same kid that befriended him on the first day of school, and invited him to play hide and explode with his friends. He had gotten a little bit taller, and still had the same pony tail as Sokka's almost.

"Kuzon…?" he asked not sure if he was completely sure of what he was seeing. If this was him, than Kuzon was extremely tall, while his own head seemed to be at his chin level. He wasn't as skinny as he used to be, hair was longer, and he looked like he could use some more sleep, but Shoji could tell it was definitely him now due to the headband he wore.

"Kuzon! It's so good to see you again!' he said, as he put his arm out. Aang didn't know if he should tell him his real name or not, but since the Gang told him to lay low, then he was going to listen to them.

"Shoji!" he said, and shook his arm, "It's good to see you too. I can see that you guys are still dancing." Aang examined the room, surprised at how well it looked.

They both let go of each others arms, "Are you kidding me? We have been dancing since you left! We would always get into trouble, but we couldn't help it! And after the new Fire Lord declared that we could dance, we try and do it three times a week if we can." he said with a smile, as he recalled the first night Kuzon taught them.

"Well if you're allowed to do it, then why is it far from the town?" he asked, as he thought about the long walk to get here.

"The City Council said we could do it, but we were causing too much noise. So they told us we could come here. What do you think?" he said a little louder, as the music was getting louder too.

Aang smiled, "It's Flamin' Shoji! You seem to have even more people here, than when I first came!

"Yea! But you're still the number one fancy foot guy! Care to show us how it is really done?" he asked, with much enthusiasm in his voice. "I know everyone will be happy to see you again!" Aang thought about it for a second, and remembered that his duty was to the people, and if this is what they wanted him to do, then he was fine with that.

"I'd love to!" he said, and followed his old friend through the crowd. The Air Nomad was already starting to sweat in this hot room, but it wasn't going to stop him from having a great time. Once they were in the middle, Aang decided to do the Phoenix Flight again like he did the first time.

Some people "oohed" and "awed" at him, as he joined in with the others too. Aang was learning some new moves too, did what he did best. Flips and jumps in the air while landing on one foot, and running up the wooden columns, while spinning and flipping at the same time. The girls were all very impressed, and started asking around who this guy was. Of course Shoji couldn't help, but tell people that it was Kuzon, and it made the girls go crazier. After about two hours of none stop dancing, Aang was pouring in sweat in the oven place. When he decided to take a break, so to let the other guys take the floor, he was instantly surrounded by the girls from the school he went to. They were either tugging on him, telling him how cute he was, or if he could dance with them like the way he did with Katara. The mob around Aang was getting bigger and bigger; he didn't like all of this attention from the girls screaming at him, and who couldn't stop blushing either.

Finally, he had enough, and saw that the second floor wasn't that far to jump. By using his airbending, he jumped up, and grabbed the rim of the wood. He then pulled his feet in, so as not to hit anyone, and with a little bit of back and forth motion, he flipped himself onto the railing of the second floor and landing on his toes with perfect balance. He looked back down at the pile of girls, who tried to jump like he did, but couldn't reach. And then he saw them starting to run towards the stairs. When he looked in front of him, he saw two girls. One, he didn't recognized, and the other was On Ji. His eyes got big, afraid that they were going to attack him now too, but they just giggled at him.

"I heard you were back, Kuzon." On Ji said in a sweet manner, "But the dance floor is down there." she pointed to the other dancing with her index finger.

Aang got off of the railing and laughed a little, "I know, but I have a gang of girls after me for some reason. You wouldn't happen know a secret way out of here, would you?" he asked quickly.

On Ji smiled, and whispered something to her friends ear, and then took Aang's hand and ran him into a room close by and hid themselves to the darkest corner of the room. He could feel the footsteps getting louder as they came to the room, and were about to enter, until another girls voice yelled at them.

"Kuzon!" she yelled in a high pitched voice, "_Oooh_! Take me instead of all of these _other_ girls! Please don't _go out the front door _of the Tavern, and run to the _left_!" she emphasized, and then ran through the other crazies. Instantly, the fan girls turned around, to see a guy leaving as he just turned to his left. They all screamed, and went running in that direction, leaving Aang to finally catch his breath.

"Whoo!" he said loudly, while leaning his head onto the wood. He placed his back on the wall, crept back to the door. Aang peaked his head out, to see the last girl running down the steps and out of the Tavern. Aang sighed again in relief and looked to his right at On Ji.

"Thanks On Ji, I owe you one." he said, smiling at her, and then walked out the small old balcony to get some fresh air. The air was hot still, but it was a lot cooler than that stuffy first floor. The sky was absolutely beautiful, with more stars than anyone could ever count, and a crescent moon shinning brightly tonight. He put his arms on the ledge, and then he placed his head on top them.

On Ji laughed as she followed him out, "Guessing you're not the kind of guy that enjoys girls attention, huh?"

Aang looked up and laughed a little too, "No. Not really. It's not really my thing to be the center of attention."

"Oh yeah right!" she said sarcastically while rolling her eyes at him. "We are talking about the same guy who corrected our History Teacher on the Air Nomads, who started dancing in music class and kind of argued with him, and who wanted to have a secret dance party while you showed your moves off? Oh no, you're definitely not the kind of guy who likes attention." On Ji giggled.

The Monk grinned back, "I didn't mean to make myself get all of that attention…I was just speaking my mind I guess, and no one else was dancing, so I had to improvise a little for all of you."

"Well," she said, and leaned over the railing, barely touching Aang's arm, "I'm glad you did it. You really changed this place for the better."

The Monk felt the arm on his, and didn't like the feeling at all. But he didn't want to hurt On Ji's feelings, because she was always so nice to him, so he just didn't move or even acknowledge their closeness. When he looked over at her, he remembered that she had a pretty face, and now she seemed very beautiful.

The Air Nomad felt a bead of sweat drip down his the side of his face, and nose, while his hair was still sticking to him. He was happy that he had decided to wear the headband again, especially since he was going to be dancing. Aang had a blast, and he was really happy to have been able to see these kids acting like this.

The Monk wiped his face on his sleeve, opposite of On Ji's face. "Thanks." he said, and then got up with his arms extended to hold his weight, as his head hung at his chest. He really wished Katara was hear with him, so they would dance once again, and he could have a reason to hold her in his arms. Suddenly, he felt a hand on top of his, but it wasn't the same touch he was used to. There was no spark, no increase of his body temperature, or the part of being nervous. It was very alien to him.

Aang looked over, and saw On Ji looking at him weirdly. "Is there someone special in your life right now, Kuzon?"

The Airbender gulped some air down his throat, and removed his hand from under hers, and took a step to the left. "I…yes, maybe...I don't know." he said stumbling through his words, because he really wasn't sure if Katara did want him at all, especially since she was still with Higen.

She took a small step closer, and he took a giant step back. "Am I prettier than her?" she asked with both of her hands behind her back, as she flirted with him.

Aang looked down at the brown headed girl, as she eagerly awaited his answer. "_You are pretty candle._" he thought, "_But Katara is the sunrise._"

Aang closed his eyes, which caused him to smile, as he could see that _no one_ could ever compare to her beauty. But that wasn't the only reason he thought she was exquisitely beautiful, but it was because she had a gorgeous and loving heart for just about anyone, and she was the only one who could ever bring him out of the Avatar State when he couldn't control himself. On Ji saw this smile, and took the opportunity as she took her steps closer to him quickly.

The Monk opened his eyes, and when he did, On Ji got up on her tip toes, grabbed his face with both hand, and kissed him. Aang's eyes went huge, and his lips became stiff against her hot lips that he hated. He was so used to the feeling of moist cool kisses from Katara, but _this_ felt like fire burning on his lips. He grabbed her shoulders quickly, and pushed her away from him as she smiled up at him. Aang was about to say something, but then he felt the elements in Katara's betrothal necklace start to separate back into water and air. He hadn't even realized that they had formed into one, until he pushed On Ji off. Aang looked over at the doorway and saw no one, but already knew that she saw what just happened.

"What is it Kuzon?" On Ji kept looking up at him, and then followed his gaze, and back to him again.

Aang looked back at her, and said, "I already love someone else On Ji. I'm sorry, but _this_, this can never be. I have to go."

He then let go of her, and ran after Katara. The music was still playing loudly as he ran through door less room, and down the stairs quickly. When he looked around for Katara, he was able to find that the rest of the Gang was actually dancing to the music. Sokka had grabbed one knee, while his other hand was on his head, and then he would bring his head down and his knee up and continued this same motion. Suki seemed to be doing some cool fighting moves with her fans, while Teo was spinning in circles with his chair, and popping a wheelie with his feet up in the air and still spinning spinning. Toph was trying to mimic the really hard moves of others, while Zuko was spinning around on the ground by only using his arm strength, as he would lift one arm up every time his legs came around. It reminded him a lot of what he did to Suki while fighting them on Kyoshi Island, as he used fire from his feet, and Mai was to the side, with her arms crossed, and leaning against a wooden beam. Even though she wasn't dancing, she seemed to be enjoying herself as her index finger tapped with the music, and he wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that there was a small crooked smile on her face. Then there was Raiden, who seemed to be doing a weird version of a slow moving person. Almost like he was stiff, and making every move noticeable.

Aang ran through the crowd on the outside, while avoiding eye contact with anyone in his Gang. There were a couple of times that he ran into people and they would fall to the ground, or spilled their drinks all over themselves. Then he felt someone grip his arm, and it made him stop. When he looked back, it was Shoji who had caught his attention.

"Where are you going? We are about to do a singles dance off, and the winner gets a huge trophy!" he said, trying to encourage his friend to stick around.

The Airbender shook his head, "I can't! I'm looking for someone!" he yelled back at him, and was about to run, but he grabbed his arm again.

"Is it the same girl that you danced with that time in the caves?" he said, which caused Aang to look back at him.

He grabbed his shoulders, "Where is she? Where did she go?" he shook him a little.

Shoji was a little shocked at his aggression, but answered anyways. "She went through the back door over there." he said pointing to his right, "She looked devastated man."

The Air Nomad nodded quickly and thanked his friends as he ran out the outer rim of the crowd again. Once he got outside, she was nowhere to be seen or even hearing range. Aang then got off of the wooden porch, and got down on one knee, and used his right hand to hold him up. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on the connection of the plants, just like Huu and Guru Pathik taught him.

Suddenly, it was like he was running through all of the roots at a top speed, and searching in all directions. He saw a man using an Ostrich Horse to carry his cargo, a couple who was making out with each other in some tall grass, kids playing hide and explode, and then he finally found who he was looking for. He could see that Katara was sitting on a boulder, and curled up into a ball as he feel her sobbing. Aang opened his eyes, and realized that she wasn't even a mile away from him. He jumped up quickly, causing him to sprint after her by using his _real_ speed.

He didn't care if anyone saw him running, but he wanted to use his airbending speed to get to her in a matter of seconds. He ran through the grass, until he came to a high hill, which had a gaze of the ocean and crescent moon above them. Katara was exactly where he saw her last, as he could hear her sniffles. It broke Aang's heart for her to be like this, and it seemed he could never catch a break when things got better between them. Something would _always _happen…the Avatar started walking up to her, but gave her plenty of space as he just looked at her back. There was a gentle ocean breeze that made Katara's chocolate hair blow slightly enough, for him to smell the same flower on her again.

To be honest, he didn't know what to say to her right now. He knew the feeling of misery when Higen kissed Katara in front of him, but it wasn't anything like what On Ji did to him. This whole thing between Katara and him was so confusing, because she seemed like she wanted to be with him but held back because she was with Higen. What else could he do to make things better for them, or to make it easier on her or himself for that matter?

"Katara…I-I, it's not what you think. Back there with On Ji and me." he said, knowing full that she knew what he meant, and felt stupid for saying it. "I know that this is a typical guy line, but you have to believe me when I say, _she_ kissed _me_. And it meant nothing!"

However, Katara's only response was to tighten up her knees into her chest, as the silent tears fell onto her clothing. Aang desperately wanted to see her face, but he knew now wasn't the time to do that, so he continued to talk to her back side that flowed with her long wavy hair.

"I don't even know how it happened. She just asked me if I thought she was pretty and I closed my eyes and smiled…" suddenly he knew that he shouldn't have said that part either. "I mean, wasn't smiling at the thought of her being pretty, even though she is—No! That's not what I meant either…Ah!" he yelled into the night sky and fell to his knees. He hated that no matter what he said; he was making it worse and worse. It was just like at The Cave of Two Lovers all over again.

_Katara laughed at the silly idea of kissing Aang to save their lives, but it wasn't like she never thought about it before. In fact, she was a bit more curious than she should have bee, but decided to hear Aang's thought on this as she tried to deny the idea. _

"_Us, kissing. What was I thinking? Can you imagine that?"_

_Aang snapped out of his fantasy world of finally kissing his first crush, "Yea." he said, and gave her a fake laugh, "I definitely wouldn't want to you." The Monk finished by pointing a finger at her, and when he saw her face, he wished he hadn't have said that now._

_The Waterbender was kind of hurt by this, but her anger seemed to take hold of her voice. "Well, I didn't realize it was such a horrible option! Sorry I suggested it!"_

_The Avatar ducked his head in shame, and tried to fix it quickly. "No, I mean, if it was a choice between kissing and dying-"_

_Now he was igniting her anger as she turned away from him and yelled "Ugh!" in an appalling tone._

_Again, he tried to fix it, "What? I'm saying I'd rather kiss you than die! That's a compliment!" he said as he put his hands together in front of his face, like he was pleading with her to see what he meant._

"_Well I'm not sure which I'd rather do!" she yelled at him, and pushed the torch into his chest and walked away from him._

_The Monk looked down in more shame and stupidity at what he just did. "What is wrong with me?" he said sadly in that dark cave, with Katara far away enough not to hear him._

"What is wrong with me?" he said out loud, but only to himself. He rubbed his right hand over his wet headband and then through his tangled up wind hair. Aang looked up again at Katara, as she sat there like a stone herself on that boulder.

"Please, Katara! What can I do to fix this? Tell me what to do, and I'll gladly do it! Please!" he said pleading with her again. But no movement was made; just the sound of sniffles in the peaceful night.

Finally, she did say something. "Higen proposed to me and I…" Katara started to say, but then the picture of him and On Ji kissing made her stop. The Waterbender needed to tell him, even after what happened just a few minutes ago, he needed to know. That was why she came to find him.

This horrible news made his head pop back up, as he tried to recall if she still had her Moms necklace on still, but now that he thought about it, he wasn't positive about it as he started to doubt his memories. There was no more time for him to be timid or give her time, he needed to tell her now.

"I don't want you to marry him, Katara." he said, trying to find the confidence in his voice as he grabbed a fist full of soft grass, and tightened his grip around them. "He could never love you the way I do now."

Katara remained motionless, but then slowly got out of her ball, and stood up as she walked to him. Her eyes were pink, and still watery. "The way you do? From what I can tell, I'm not the only girl who you seem to have your eyes for!" she yelled in agony, but she wanted him to say it. She needed to know that everything that they had wasn't for nothing, or it was something that she made up or dreamt about.

"I have _never_ had eyes for On Ji, let alone any other girl I have ever seen!" Now it was his turn to get angry as he continued on, "Oh, I had plenty of girls liking me when I disappeared, but I didn't _want_ to be with any of them! Not because I couldn't, but because I _chose_ to want to be with only one girl!" he said, and started taking steps towards a little too fast, as her reaction was to step back away from him quicker.

"Ever since you broke me out of that ice, no other girl could compare! No one could never make me smile the way you do, comfort me when I was hurting, or to make me _want_ to be a better person! I've tried so hard to be everything that you wanted me to be Katara, and yet it seems like I'm still not good enough! I ran away to protect you and the others, and you want to throw this is my face!"

Suddenly Aang realized his mistake, as he gave away his reasoning to running that day, so he quickly continued still taking steps towards her and she was moving back, until she hit the rock from behind. The Waterbender tripped, and reached her hands back, and felt like she was falling off the cliff side, but her hands caught her on the boulder. She was about to stand back up, but instead, she used her arms that held herself as leaned back. Away from the Monks suffering face and it scared her.

"I don't want you to marry Higen, because I love you Katara! I, mean, how else do you want me to prove that to you? You want me to tell you that while I was gone, that I _never_, for one second, stopped thinking about you! How I remembered us kissing as we fell thousands of feet from the sky, or the fact that being apart from you was absolute torture for me! You have no idea what I went through to get where I am, and you were the only person who encouraged me to wake up everyday and continue on!" Aang yelled with tears forming in his eyes.

He hadn't even noticing that his hands were barely to the sides of her naked stomach, as he held himself over her. Katara was leaning back on her elbows now, astonished at the closeness between their bodies, and could easily feel the heat jumping off of him. He was inches from her shocked face, as Aang could feel the coolness of her breath on his sweaty face, and it was clouding his mind. Katara was overwhelmed with what Aang was saying to her, and she honestly didn't know how to respond. Just about everything that Suki said to her tonight was the truth, and yet he kept going.

The Airbender stood up tall and took a few steps backwards, as he turned his back to her. He placed his hands on his hips, leaned his head back to look up at the light years of stars above him and exhaled.

"Katara…you don't realize how important you are to me." he said with his back turned still, "While I was gone, there were so many reasons that I wanted to leave, but _you_ were the reason that I stayed with the Guru. The world mattered too, but _you_ kept me going. _You_, the only woman I am still in love with. _You_, the only person who saved my life two times; from the ice and when Azula struck me. _You_, the only Southern Waterbender who could melt my heart, and help mold me into who I am today!" A few tears slipped down his cheek, and then used both of his hand to wipe them away in a single stroke. When he composed himself a little, and calmed his breathing, he turned and looked at the ground, not wanting to see her face.

He gave her a small fake laugh, "Even the smell of pink carnation in your hair drives me mad. The way your hands touch me, is like silk from the Heavens. And your laugh…oh, your laugh, is, like a melody that puts me to sleep. It's _so_ beautiful and lovely that I can't get enough of hearing it." he said looking up at her, as she still sat on the boulder. Aang didn't caring anymore if he showed his weakness in front of her, as the water leaking from his eyes.

"I can't breathe or think when I'm around you. You have put me under your spell Katara, in both body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. There is no one else in this world, or the next life that could _ever_ make me feel the way you do. I know I am young, and probably don't understand the concepts of love, but I do know what I want…and that's _you_, Katara. It has always, and will forever be _you_."

Katara was feeling everything emotion in what he was saying, and it was tearing her to pieces as she learned of his own pain. That he suffered just as she did, if not worse, and now she learned one of the reasons that he left, and it was to protect her. But from what? The Waterbender would find out eventually, but she just couldn't take seeing Aang like this in front of her, she had to tell him the truth.

The blue eyed girl stood up from the rock, and walked carefully towards the open hearted Monk, as she got closer to him. When she reached out for him, he took a step back and again cleared away his tears. The moons light couldn't hide anything that was showing that night, whether it was tears, the pain that was in their hearts, or the love that they had for each other, could not be hidden.

The Waterbender closed her eyes, and inhaled the summer's ocean air. She held it in for a second, and exhaled it out completely. When there was no air left in her, she opened up her eyes to him, as his eyes were on the moon above her.

"I, told Higen…that, I couldn't…" she said in a low tone, and then he looked slowly down at her with an unexpressed face. They were still standing a few feet from each other, with nothing but Yue and the stars to bare witness what just happened, and what will happen next.

**So, if your wondering if I accidently left off more of this chapter, or if it didn't upload, well you are WRONG! I thought about continuing on, and I could end with just a HUGE, LONG chapter. Right now, it ends with 28 pages. And I'm sure a lot of you would enjoy it, but I decided to leave you hanging once again. X) **

**But there is something you can do! I am leaving my next chapter in your hands! Because there was a heated KatAang moment at the end, you get to vote on what I write next! All of your comments COUNT for this! So the deal is, at the end of your Review, you have to put up either of these answers;**

**YES: for an all out KatAang chapter**

**NO: for wanting other character to be involed, but still have _some _KatAang**

**IDC (I Don't Care): for just write it out however you feel**

**I also have bad news. I start college up on Monday, which means I won't be writing two long chapters a week like I have been _trying _to do. However, since you guys have been SO wonderful to me in your reviews, I will continue to write. :) I will try and post one chapter up every week, but there can be no promises just because I will have full schedule of school, work, and working out. But I will continue to write anyways! PROMISE!**

**Also, PandaLily22, I hope you liked the Suki and Katara moment! Put that in just for you, since you wondered if I could, and I hope it was good enough to please you )**


	17. Chapter 17

**I FINALLY put it up for you guys! So, the votes were pretty Unanimous of an ALL OUT KATAANG CHAPTER! I'm so sorry that it seems to have taken me forever to put this chapter up, but school and work have really kicked my butt this week, and I'm sorry again =( this chapter has probably been the hardest one for me to do, because I do want it to be perfect, and Idk if you guys will be satisfied with it or not :/ I wanted it to be GREAT, but I feel like I'm not a very good doing KatAang stuff.**

**Anyways, I had over 30 reviews in the last chapter (WHICH IS A NEW RECORD) and I hope to get more and more! You guys were awesome in your comments, so without further or do, here is your KATAANG chapter! I don't own anything of A:TLA! And I apolgize AHEAD of time, for my grammar and misspelled words, as well repeating lines.**

Aang looked at Katara through the bright moon sky, not sure if he heard correct, but she made it seem like she said "no" to Higen's proposal. They were still a few feet from each other, and he just didn't know how to acknowledge to what she just said. For so long, the Airbender thought he was truly going to lose her, but now he was confused. All of his emotions were starting to flood out of him, as he continued to look at the beautiful Waterbender that was wearing her Fire Nation outfit that made him stand in aw of her.

"Wha-what?" was all Aang could say right this second.

Katara looked at the ground after his delayed reaction, and then started to play with her hair. She took a deep breath and then looked back at him. "It was before we left the Fire Nation, and when he proposed, I-I couldn't Aang…I just couldn't." she said, as her tears were forming again. The Waterbender took a small step to him, and this time he didn't move. His lips were parted, and his eyes showed no hint as to how he felt right now. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all, and she was starting to believe that he was mad at her now. And she couldn't blame him either.

The Monk swallowed some air as he saw Katara get closer to him. "Why?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "Why would you tell me now?"

"For so long, I was mad at you. I was angry that you left, and how much pain you put me in. But now, now I can see that you were hurting just as badly as I was. I came to tell you this, because being around you…I feel like I'm finally living again. And because, I could never love Higen the same way I do with you…" she said, as she looked at Aang. He seemed like he still wasn't processing the news, or it seemed like she was speaking a different language to him.

The Air Nomad's mind was going a million miles an hour, while he kept looking at Katara. All of this time, even after so much hate towards him, she still loved him. She still wanted to be with him, and she proved that by denying Higen's proposal. After what seemed like an eternity to him, all of the torturing, the heartache, the tears, it was all worth it for him to be in this moment with Katara, here and now. All of what had happened to him in the past just seemed to melt away. He knew that he should be furious with Katara, especially just now finding out that Higen had tried to take her away from him, and learning that she said no to him anyways. But instead, he felt even lighter on his feet, and the overflowing of joy within him.

"I'm so, so, sorry Aang." she said, with a tear running down her face. This made the Monk snap out of it, and looked at the breathtaking girl before. And instantly, he took those last few steps towards her, which separated them both, and hugged her tightly. The smell of her was so intoxicating, that he picked her up from her lower back, and spun her in his arms. Aang didn't care what she did in the past, or what Higen might have accomplished, because she was still in love with him.

Katara was so surprised by his quick action, but she wrapped her arms around his sweaty neck, and tightened her grip. It had been two weeks since Aang had held her like this, and it was just the most amazing feeling in the world. She felt like she was on top of the world, as her butterflies came back into her stomach, with ten times the strength now; it felt like someone was tickling her almost. The Waterbender could feel his warm breathing in on her neck, while his face was covered in her hair chocolate hair. When Aang finally stopped spinning her around, he was still holding onto her, as her feet were still hanging. The Airbender gave her a small laugh that sent chills down her spine, and it seemed like time stood still for both of them.

"I thought I lost you." he said in a whispering, happy little kid manner. "For so long, I dreamt of this Katara. I was never sure if you still loved me after what happened, but you do. You really do!" Aang again squeezed her tighter against him, and then gently placed her feet on the ground. The Monk didn't want to let go of her, as he realized that he could stay in that position with her for an eternity, but he needed to see her face again. He barely loosened up his grip, but she squeezed his neck again, and felt her wet tears dripping onto him his neck. This made Aang laugh at her reaction, so he tenderly squeezed his arms on her lower back, not wanting to object to this. The small part of her back was exquisitely softer than he remembered, as he could feel the muscles on her back being stretched up towards him. Everything about her was soft, and even her hair was, but it was tickling his face and driving him crazy.

While one hand remained on her lower back, he ran his right thumb up and spine in a feather like way, until he reached the top of her clothing. She sucked air into her nose, and it made his lips curl up to his ears, knowing that she enjoyed it. Aang felt like he was back at that dance party at the Tavern, as he felt his body temperature start going to an extreme height, but even with the help of Katara's cool body against his, he couldn't control it.

The dark skinned girl loved how his hands fit perfectly on her back, and how astonishing they felt against her skin. He was sending so many goose bumps up her spine, that it was making her whole body shake. His thumb kept going up and down; hitting ever small bump on her back, like he was trying to restore a long lost memory. She could feel the heat coming off of Aang like a furnace, but she just couldn't let go of him yet. And then, thoughts of what he previously said to her, about protecting her, came back into her mind and it made her start to question him now. The Waterbender wanted to know what he was protecting them from, why he left, and why was she the reason for him staying gone?

Aang started to feel Katara loosening her arms around his neck, after they stood there for who knows how long. The Monk did the same, but he kept his hands on her sides, not wanting to let go of her yet. The dark skinned girl's arms were still stretched up to his neck, so that they could look at each other's face. The Airbender could see that she was just as happy as he was, but something was on her mind. He was afraid that he said too much to her, as he just poured his heart to her, and maybe she wasn't ready to hear it yet. But in the spur of the moment, it seemed like it was a good idea at the time.

The Air Nomad exhaled, and used his best apologizing manner, "I'm sorry Katara."

Katara gave him a confused look, because she didn't know why he just apologized to her. This is the happiest she had felt in almost two years, and he is apologizing for this?

"For what?" she asked, and then put hands on the side of his face so she could try and understand him better. She felt his strong jaw tighten under her hands, as he closed his eyes.

"For what I said…it, it wasn't done like the way I wanted to be said. I yelled at you as I told you how I felt about you, and I know that you are happy. But, I feel like I said something in the wrong way, because you have that look in your eyes like you are trying to solve a mystery." he said, and then opened his eyes down to her again. When he did, he saw Katara only smile at him widely and showing her teeth, while her thumb traced over the small scar on his cheek.

"No." she whispered while continuing to grin at him, "No. Everything that you said was exactly what I needed to hear, now that I can finally see that you love me. I never once heard you say it, and it was just so amazing to hear it from _your_ voice. I have waited so long to hear it, and it was so majestic to me."

The Monk smiled back and looked at her gorgeous face, scanning everything on her, and then saving her lips for last. Aang then brought up his right hand, while leaving the other on her side, and moved the hair that was blowing on her face, placing it behind her ear.

And then place his hand his hand on her cheek, and then slowly leaned forward, and kissed her on the forehead. He whispered against her skin, "I love you." His mouth traveled to her closed eyes and kissed them too; causing her mouth open to suck back in the warm air around them.

"No one else can compare to you." he declared through a smile. Aang's lips hovered over to the tip of her perfect nose, and kissed it gingerly. The Airbender then said, "You are _everything_ to me, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. And I _truly_, _deeply_, love you."

Suddenly, Katara's entire body felt completely numb as she listened to him say these things to her, in everyway that she had imagined, and more. Even though he was only fourteen years old, he knew how to talk to her, and make her feel like the only important person in the world for him. She hadn't even realized that her eyes remained closed until he stopped kissing on her face. And when she slowly opened her eyes up to him, his face was serious and close to hers. Her hands were now on his chest, still feeling the heat against her palms that it was beginning to make her body start to warm. He was clouding her mind so much that it was hard for her to remember to keep breathing, and recall what she wanted to say to him.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered as leaned closer to her, hoping that she was thinking the same thing he was.

Katara closed her eyes, but even though she _desperately_ wanted to kiss him, she needed to know the truth. Before he barely touched her lips, she said quickly, "Why did you leave to protect me Aang?"

Instantly, she felt his body stiffen up, and slowly lifted his face away from hers. Then his hands removed themselves from her lower back, and when he did that, it felt like her skin was burning from his hands. Aang removed her hands that were on his shoulders, then gently lowered them to her side, and let go of them. He took a side step and starting walking back to that rock, and sat in the same spot as Katara did; as he looked out at the dark ocean that could easily hold his dark secrets. The blue eyed girl felt like crying all over again, as she knew that she had ruined everything that had led up to this point, but she was tired of his unknown past. She already forgave him for hiding his identity from her, but she couldn't forgive him disappearing until she knew why. And she could never move forward with the Airbender, until he told her everything.

The breeze felt so wonderful on her heated body, that she was finally able to think a little clearer now. Her eyes never left his back side, as he just continued to look out in the darkened horizon. She then saw him take off his old headband, and started concentrating on it now, like it was a good distraction for him. The dark skinned girl took a deep breath, and exhaled it out before she walked over towards him. When she sat next to him, with a small amount of space between them, he didn't dare to look over at her. Aang had both of his arms on his thighs, while leaning over them. Both of his thumbs were rubbing against the old, faded, maroon fabric, that he was holding his hands.

The hour of silence was difficult for them both, as they both listened to the sounds of waves from the ocean. But it was time for Aang to talk to her. She knew he wouldn't tell her everything, but if they were going to be together, then she needed him to give some leeway to his past.

"Why did you leave to protect me Aang?" she repeated again, hoping he would budge, but he didn't. He just sat there and closed his fists tightly, as if someone was hurting him deeply.

"_Me and my big mouth." _Aang said to himself, _"As much as I want to be around her, I have to keep her safe. That is my number one priority. But I can't leave her again, let alone any of the others; they care about me so much, and I don't want to live like that again. But am I being selfish again? If I stay with Katara, am I already putting her in even more danger if I tell her everything? _

"I need you to tell me that you didn't leave because of me! That I didn't drive you away!" Katara pleaded with him, as fresh tears started forming again in her sphere blues.

The Air Nomad looked over at the Waterbender, like someone had just screamed his name out in bloody murder. Aang turned his torso in front of her, so that he could look straight at her face. He was infuriated that she would ever think this, but he knew that he was the one who caused her to feel the way she did, and it only made him become more irritated at himself. He looked straight into her watery blue eyes, and tried to calm himself from yelling at her, but he failed miserably when he spoke.

"I _never_, _ever_ want you to blame yourself Katara, for _my_ reasoning in leaving! I was told a long time ago to leave, but I chose the way of selfishness, because _I_ wanted to stay with you. _I_ didn't want to leave you!" he said enraged with tears of pain, and then grabbed her shoulders, and shook her gently to get it through to her.

"Do you understand me? I chose to leave for other reasons, not because of you! You have absolutely _no_ reason to blame yourself for _my_ mistakes Katara! Nothing! The only thing you are guilty of, is allowing me to live in _your_ world, and love you! That is it! " the Monk yelled at her, with his eyes never leaving hers. He needed her to understand that even after what happened that night, when he hurt her, he also saw what he did to the others. If he had left sooner, than nothing would have ever happened, and things could have been better. But then again, nothing is ever easy when you were the Avatar.

Aang finally released his grasp on her shoulders, and went back to his same seated position and looked out to the infinite horizon. He ran his right hand through his dark, long hair, and then placed it over his eyes. He squeezed his temples; mad at himself for letting her carry that burden on her shoulders for so long, when it was never hers to carry. It was different for him to do that, because she and the others lived in this world, and only he had the strength to do it. But sometimes, he would forget that he is still a human and not some Spirit that didn't feel anything.

The young Monk couldn't tell Katara about the Demon inside of him, or that he didn't know how to be rid of It. The Airbender couldn't answer that question yet, and he truly hoped that he never would, but he feared that it would be the only way for her to understand him better. Aang hated to keep his life a secret, and it was killing him so much, that he felt like he was still suffering. He didn't know what to do, how to tell his story, or if he even could? So many questions, and it seemed like no one could truly answer them at all. Yes, he did have Avatar Roku, but he couldn't help him with everything. He needed to see Guru Pathik, but it seemed like whenever he wanted to see or talk to him, he just couldn't. Aang truly felt alone in this world, and no matter what he does, he felt like he could never fix it.

Then he felt soft palms grab the hand that covered his eyes, and made him bring them away from his face. That same hand was then intertwined with dark, tan fingers that squeezed around his pale ones. The Monk's eyes followed the trail of the hand, up to her arm, onto her shoulder, her neck, to her luscious lips, until he finally came into her light colored blue eyes that the moon shined on.

"Aang, I am begging you." she pleaded with her tears, "Please. I don't want you to be alone in whatever is going on in your life. I will _always_ be here for you, but you won't let me help you!"

He sighed and shook his head to her, "I can't tell you…you would only hate me even more Katara. And I can't lose you. And I know I am being greedy, but I can't help it when all I want in the world is you, Katara. "

"If you shut me out though, Aang, then it's the same as losing me away. I _want_ to help you through whatever it is you are going through." she said, meaning every word she spoke. The blue eyed girl hated it when he would carry too much weight on his own, and even though he thought he was being strong when he did it, it didn't mean he was invincible to pain. Katara learned that a long time ago when Azula shot him with lightning while he was in the Avatar State. She never once thought that he could be hurt, or even killed, but she was _so_ wrong.

The Waterbender continued, "I know that just because you are the Avatar, it doesn't mean that you still aren't human. You carry the weight of the world, the deaths and disappearances of people, and now there is something else. Something, that scares you more than anything and you won't let me try and help you! You want me to be with you, but it's like you can't touch me!"

The Airbender shook his head, forgetting that she could read what was on his mind so clearly, and he didn't like it this time. His fear caused him to let go of those precious hands of hers, and walked to the edge of the cliff with so much confusion running through his mind. He stood there with his arms behind his head, like he was out of breath, while his eyes continued to look down below. It was a long drop to the bottom to where the piles of high rocks stayed, as the strong currents tried to break them apart, but kept failing horribly. Aang then realized that the ocean water was like Katara; she tried to break away the rocks that he built around himself, and it wasn't working. But just like the waves, she would never stop, until she broke through.

Katara truly hated seeing the Monk like this, as he stood with his back to her. It was like he almost listening to the cries of the world, and it only added more and more heartache to him. The Waterbender had to come up with another way to get him to talk, but right now, she only wanted to be there for him. She slowly got up, and walked towards the burdened young Avatar. The dark skinned girl then leaned her head between his shoulders as her arms wrapped around his torso. She could feel his breathing from his stomach and heard the faint beat of his heart. And just as quickly as she comforted him, the Air Nomad grabbed her hands, and released them from where they were and turned around to face her. He let go of her hands, and placed them into his pockets, feeling the heavy weight of the betrothal necklace in his left, as well as the creased letter in his other.

"You can't help, even if you wanted to." he proclaimed in a defeating manner, while looking down at the helpless girl who was willing to do anything for him. "You can't."

Katara hated this too, and it only caused her to get mad at him. "Well what can you tell me then Aang? Can you tell me what the letter says, that I see you reading every night for hours before you sleep? What about the nightmares you keep having all the time, which cause you to say my name?" Katara argued back at him. But his only response was to close his eyes tightly as he held back his tears.

"…What is it that you dream about; that makes you wake up sweating in hyperventilation? And then you don't sleep any more that night!" she added, letting him know that she knew about that as well. In fact, they all pretty much knew of his sleeping schedule, but they figured that he would eventually sleep that next day. But every time, he proved them wrong, and it was making them all nervous, especially for her. Aang seemed to always have nightmares when he was stressed or scared, but these were different.

Aang's eyes remained closed as dropped his head back down, holding back his misery of pain. But Katara wasn't going to stop, and unfortunately, the Monk knew how stubborn she could get when she wanted to know something. He was having nightmares, which were all different, but they all ended the same way. Aang tried to think of any alternative to not telling her, but there was just no point in even trying anymore. She and the others were getting more and more curious to him everyday, like he was a traitor or something. He felt as he was always being questioned, and watched more carefully, as if they were waiting on him to do something. Everyday, Aang had to watch himself even more carefully too, and it was making him insane. He needed to tell someone, but he just wished it wasn't to Katara. The Airbender decided to tell her, even though, everything inside of him, was telling him not too. He didn't open up his eyes to her, as he finally confessed to her, knowing full and well that there was going to be nothing left between them.

"There are too many for me to tell you about Katara, but in every single one of them, you…" he said every word slowly, and then stopped himself as he could no longer hold the tears back from trickling down his face, as he thought of the _real_ dream that truly haunted him. Even though he had never dreamt of it again; everyday he felt like he could still see it all, and relive every single second. He could still _feel_ the blood dripping off of his body, the heat of the fire surrounding the corpses that lay there, and the look of his friend's faces, who died trying to defend themselves against him. But above all, he remembered the look of the Waterbender's face, and the breaking of Katara's neck, as he saw the lights in her eyes go dark. In that moment, Aang wished that someone would break his ribs once again, so that he would never have to feel the pain he was always in; to have the weight of the future on his shoulders, and never knowing if or how he could prevent it from ever happening. He would rather die for his friends and Katara, if it meant that they would live to see that world of love and peace, which Zuko once spoke of. Then, for some reason, Aang remembered Aunt Wu telling him about _destiny_.

"_Your destiny…this is incredible. You will be involved in a great battle! An awesome conflict between the forces of good and evil! A battle, whose outcome will determine the fate of the whole world!" _

At the time, Aang thought he knew of what battle she was talking about. And even though he did save the world, he started to wonder if he truly did at all. With the evil inside of him, that seemed to wait patiently for him to mess up, the fate of the world would be determined in an instant. This is why he needed to find this Rebellion, because he had a feeling that if Ozai took over his body, he would use this 'Army' against the good of all people who had ever stood up against him. And if his premonition was true, then the massacre of the world would lay at his feet as he would control all four elements, with others too, and no one would ever be able to hide from him. He didn't save the world at all…he brought a plague that was going to sweep the world swiftly and easily. However, there was a slight piece of hope that still lingered in him, and it was what Aunt Wu said to him before they left her village years ago.

"_I'll tell you a little secret young Airbender. Just as you reshaped those clouds, _you_ have the power to shape your own destiny."_

After finally calming himself, the young Airbender opened his eyes up, and felt more drops of water fall down to his feet. Everything he wanted, everything he needed in this life was right here in front of him. And that was enough for him to fight to the death with the Evilness growing in him, and hope that what the Fortuneteller proclaimed, was true enough. The Monk couldn't say the truth in front of her, even though he wanted to share this with someone else, but it was his burden; not Katara's, the Gang's, or the Worlds, but _His_, and his alone. But he felt a tugging in his heart to tell her, even though his mind told him 'no', and he didn't know what to trust anymore. His heart was good to a point, but it was being corrupted every single day, and it confused him to an even greater degree.

The dark skinned girl had never seen his body language act this way before, except when he when he thought she was in love with Higen and ran off. And something happened to him that night, as she now knew that he 'fell' down the side of the mountain. At least that was what Toph said, but the Waterbender knew Aang was lying to the Earthbender and Katara was tired of not knowing anymore, as were the others. Whatever the ending in his dreams were, he was devastated by them, and it was eating him alive with something happening to her. She reached up to him with her right hand, and raised his chin up to her eye level. She then moved her hands to the side of his face, and made him look at her. She wiped one of his tears away with her right thumb, as it traveled over his purple bags under his tired eyes.

"It's okay Aang." Katara whispered, "Please." she begged.

The Air Nomad clenched his jaw in her hands, and then pleaded with her through his watery eyes. "Don't make me say it. Please, I—I can't say it. You will never want to be near me again, and I don't know if I can do that all over again."

"I need to know Aang. Just tell me. Please." she asked again, not backing down when she was finally starting to get through to him. She was tired of being left in the dark, while he wondered in it alone.

"What is it that scares you so much that you won't even tell me?"

The Monk couldn't take it any more. He wanted to tell someone, but he wished it wasn't her. Aang sniffled, and rubbed his eyes, as he gently pushed her hands off of his face. He looked up at the moon that was held by the stars, as he asked for the strength to tell the truth without Katara running away from him in fear.

"Katara. You…" he began, and spoke the words like he was stuttering. "you umm…you—you die in all of them. And. I'm. The. One. Who. Kills. You."

Now, he could no longer hold back his sobbing, as he broke down to the waking nightmare that seemed to curse him. He the covered his face, with his hands, and slowly ran them through his dry hair.

"Is that what you wanted to hear?" he yelled painfully at her, as he took a side step to the left, and raised his hands up at her. "Does it make you feel better, that I dream of your death, every _single_ night? Or how I feel the life go out of you, and then relive it again and again and again? Have I pleased you Katara? Are you happy, knowing that I can never stop myself from doing it? I KILL YOU EVERYTIME!" Aang screamed in her face, and started breathing hard as he finally saw, fear, coursing through her eyes.

Aang instantly wished could run screaming to her brother to finish the job that he had started that night on the beach, so that he wouldn't have to keep reliving these different dreams of her death. He didn't know if he should tell her about Ozai's Spirit, but he figured it was good enough answer to suffice her.

The Waterbender didn't know how to respond to these dreams that were happening to him, which had him killing her in the end of all of them, but they were just dreams. She was very afraid, but she had to help remind Aang that it was nothing to worry about; that everything was going to be okay. However, these dreams were causing him so much pain, that she too felt whatever he was feeling. Katara tried to wrap her arms around the frightened young man, but he just took a step back in fear. That same fear had turned Aang so pale, that he could be a walking Spirit.

"They're just dreams Aang, nothing more. I'm still here, with _you_. They are nothing." she said in a comforting tone, hoping it would help.

But he shook his head at her, while he held the screams inside of him. "No. It _will_ happen Katara." he said with more darkness in his words than necessary, and heard her gasp quietly. Aang quickly looked to his to right, with more tears dripping down to his chin, as he turned away from her painful look.

"That is the main reason as to why I stayed away from you Katara." he said with tightness curling in his throat, "So that this will never happen, but now…now, it will."

"No!" she shouted at him, "They aren't real Aang! Dreams are dreams, and not the future of your life, or Mine!"

Again he shook his head and finally looked at her, without wiping the water away from his face. He put his right hand into his pocket and clenched the letter tightly, "You don't know what you are talking about Katara." he whispered to her, knowing that she would truly never understand what he was talking about. "Dreams are _real_."

For some reason, after he said that, the Waterbender slapped him across the left of his face, for even thinking that out loud. _"How could he accept this so easily?"_ she thought to herself, while he just stood there, facing the direction she slapped him in. More water dripped down to his chin, but he didn't acknowledge the red forming on his cheek; and instead he just fell to his knees, and gripped his headband even tighter now as he sat on his calves . She couldn't believe that he was relying on his 'vision' so much, that it had become a huge wedge between them. The blue eyed girl had to remind him that he would always do the right thing, and that she knew him well enough for him to protect not only her, but the world too.

Now it was her turn to fight back with something that could help him remember what is real, and then an idea hit her. She bent down on one leg, and gently touched his left hand, that held the headband, and he easily released it from his death grip. She untied it, and walked behind him, placed it over his eyes and tied it in the back.

The Airbender let her do whatever she wanted to do him, without even a hint of a fight at all. He didn't understand why she was doing this, as he opened his eyes up to total darkness, with only the sounds of her feet and the feel of the ground around him. Even though he was blinded, he could see just like the Blind Bandit had once taught him, and sometimes he felt like his vision was better this way.

The Waterbender hoped that this would work, and that it would help him. Katara then placed herself in front of the Airbender in the same position him, and giving him space between them. "Now Aang," she said very calmly, which proved to be difficult, "I want you to promise me that you won't take the headband off until _I_ take it off for you. Okay?"

The blind boy sighed heavily, not knowing what she was up to, but nodded a couple of times. "I promise." he said in a hoarse voice, while his tears started to dry.

She nodded back at him, as if he was looking at her, and said, "Aang, I need you to tell me everything that you either here or _feel_ close to you. I know you can do this for miles on out, but I just want you to stay around this grass area that we sit on. And now, I want you tell me everything that surrounds you." she asked.

Aang was totally confused at this request she was asking him to do, but he decided to comply with her demand anyways. He remained sitting on his calves, and then shut his eyes as he breathed in and out slowly; meditating on the feel and sounds of the small area that Katara asked had him to concentrate on.

"I feel…the waves crashing against the wall of this cliff that we are on. There is an ant that is struggling to bring food back to his home. I feel the limbs of the leaves of the trees barely bowing down to the wind…I hear the sounds of grass crickets around us. I can still hear the music from the Tavern being carried with the wind. And, and I can feel your heart too…" he said, knowing that he named just about everything around him in which Aang hoped that he was able to gratify her. But instead, he only heard her sigh in disappointment.

The blue eyed girl didn't know what was out there around them, but she did know of one thing he was truly missing. "No Aang, you haven't…I want you to try again, but don't try so hard. Listen, but don't look for it. Let it come to you."

"Katara…" he said shamefully not knowing what else she wanted him to say, and that she obviously knew something he didn't. Aang put his finger tips on the headband, so he could remove it from his eyes, but delicate hands stopped him from continuing.

The Monk was getting frustrated, "There is nothing else out there! What more do you want from me?" he yelled at her in the darkness around his eyes, and not understanding her motive in this crazy objective.

The Waterbender sighed sadly again, and benevolently drew his hands away from his face. She then leaned over his right shoulder, while still hanging onto his wrists, and whispered very tenderly into his ear.

"Please try again, Aang. Please…for me." Katara prayed to him, and then leaned back into her seated position, while releasing him from her grasp.

As much as the Monk wanted to deny her request, he just couldn't; even though it was ludicrous, but he decided to try again for her sake. He closed his eyes underneath the cloth, and focused again. He listened to her words as they flowed in his head, as he felt around. _"Listen, but don't look for it. Let it come to you."_ it repeated again and again in his head for many minutes, but now he was getting discouraged at it this attempt. He slouched out of his tall position, and placed his forehead into his right palm.

"_What more of an answer can I give her?"_ he asked himself, and rubbed through his messed up hair, and then place it on his neck where it remained. His chin laid on his chest, as he exhaled every last bit of his air and didn't suck anything back in for a few seconds. And that was when he felt it, and it surprised him a little. The Airbender lifted his head off of his right hand, and then looked at Katara, like he was really looking at her. He had gotten so used to his own heartbeat when he was meditating, that he had completely become so atoned to it, and had forgotten its own sound. Aang gave a small laugh through his nose and gave her a crooked smile, while still looking at the darkness around his eyes.

"My heart…that's what you wanted me to hear, wasn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer that she was seeking.

Katara closed her eyes in relief, happy to know he found what she wanted to point out to him. "Yes." she said opening sphere of blues at him, while he still sat there with her favorite smile on his face. Katara scooted closer to him, where her knees were touching his now; took his right hand and placed it just barely over his left chest and removed hers hands from his.

"Have you so easily forgotten the strength, and sound of your _own_ heart Aang? _This_," she said hinting at it again, "this right here is real. One of the greatest things about you, is that your heart will always win in your battles. No matter who or what you face, yours will always be filled with so much love, that nothing will stop you. That is _real_ to me, _and_ you! And as long as it still beats…I know that everything is going to be okay. "

The Airbender's curled up the other side of his lip, and then formed into a smile that went across his face. It was almost as if she had heard the same voice of the woman inside of his head, and was now repeating it back to him once again. To help remind him that there still was a chance, and that maybe everything could be okay. Maybe he could actually have a life with Katara, but from what Avatar Roku said, it seemed literally, impossible.

Katara saw his smile begin to disappear very slowly, and then she decided to act on another one of her ideas. The Waterbender moved her right hand up and laid on part of his neck and strong jaw, as she could now feel the heat of his pulse increasing even more while she left her hand lingering in that same position, longer there than necessary. He barely parted his mouth open to the feel of her touch, and breathed warm air onto her face. The dark skinned girl could feel the little goose bumps forming underneath her hands, and sending chills down her whole body. Her right thumb grazed ran over his scar on his left cheek, wishing that she could make it disappear from his face somehow, but she had come to loving it on him; almost as if it was like his trademark. Using her free hand, she shifted his hair to the side so she could see his blue arrowed tattoo on his forehead, and it made she smile at seeing it again. Katara ran her hand back down his face, feeling the wetness on the headband still, and placed her left hand into the same position as her right. As slowly as she possibly could, the Waterbender started pulling his face down to hers, careful not to speed up what she was about to do. Her own heart was felt like it was going to jump out of her chest at any second, but it somehow, miraculously didn't. Aang obediently listened to her hands as she pulled him down, until she barely touched his lips. Katara hesitated for a couple of seconds, and finally pulled him into her soft, moist lips.

When her lips met Aang's, they were stiff against hers, just like in The Cave of Two Lovers. Aang was very nervous when she kissed him in the dark, but he was very gentle too. However, just like last time, the Air Nomad eventually relaxed them, and pressed softly towards her. Everything that was around Katara was disappearing, along with the noise of the waves and the grass cricket's noise. Her lips were so cool on him, that he had to catch his breath for a split second, but then went back after them again. He pushed a little harder against her, and it caused her to start falling back; however, his right arm caught the skin on her lower back, and held them both up with his left arm. He then slowly brought her down to the ground, with his body laying sideways and leaning over her, as he tasted her luscious lips and kept his hand on her back.

The Waterbender ran her hands over the headband and through his hair, while pulling him even closer against her skin until there was no space between them. He seemed to be a little timid, but Katara was able to help change the pace very quickly as she rubbed her tongue on his bottom lip. When the Monk felt this amazing feeling, he automatically opened his mouth wider for her, and it only caused his tongue to go after hers. He could feel her smiling at his reaction, but then she pushed him up. And like always, Aang didn't oppose to this at all, as she sat up while leaning back on her hands. The Airbender was back on his knees, while he _listened_ to her touches, and regrettably removed his hand from her silky back. If people thought that a cloud was soft, it would be like a cactus when it was compared to her dark skin. Even though Aang still couldn't see, he knew that she was smiling at him, and it only made him want to quench his thirst from her lips again. She was breathing harder than necessary at what just happened between them, and it was so intoxicating to her, that the Waterbender wished that she didn't have to stop.

"That." she said referring to their kiss and still smiling at the blind Airbender, breathless still, as he too was catching his own breath. "That right there Aang…_that_ is real."

Aang laughed at her, and wanted to see if she would do it again for him. "Hmm, I don't know if it was or not?" he said with another of his crooked smiles as he playing with her a little. "I think you might just have to prove to me that what just happened _wasn't_ a dream at all. Because all I see is darkness, but I feel you here, so…this must be a dream or hallucination of some kind!"

Katara laughed at his silly teasing, and reached her left hand up to his head, and ever so softly, slipped it off of his still closed eyes. Slowly, Aang started to open his them up at her, like a new born baby seeing the world for the first time. When his big dark gray eyes, caught her light blue spheres, that seemed to cast from the moon behind him, and just smiled at her beauty. Aang caught his breath when he looked at her, and felt every muscle in his body start to weaken; making it obviously clear that this was most indefinitely not a dream, but he couldn't let her see it.

"You proved that you are here with me, _but _I'm still very confused as to if I was dreaming with my eyes shut?" the Airbender played with her, hoping his childish act would win her over.

The chocolate haired teenager laughed at him, knowing full and well that he was messing with her. But it was so hard for her to resist him, especially after that kiss; it was like trying to stop the sun and moon from rising and setting everyday as they lit up the skies.

"And what would you propose for me to do, in order to help with this—dream of yours, that seemed too good to be true?" she flirtatiously asked, knowing what he wanted, because she wanted it just as badly as he did.

"Well," he said with a joking smile at Katara, who decided to play along with him. He then started leaning slowly towards her face again, with much caution. "it's tough to tell. Hallucinations can be and feel _so_ real, so…it might take me a little while to figure it out."

Katara stayed perfectly still, while watching him get closer. "Really?" she said in a delighted whisper at the idea, "Well how can I show you, Avatar Aang, that it was _very_ real indeed?"

The Monk looked in her smiling eyes, "Hmm—I don't think you can _show_ me, but perhaps if you give me a demonstration of what 'supposedly' happened…?" he said, feeling her cool breath on his face. The Waterbender barely laughed; surprised at how good he was at convincing her, even though she didn't need it, but it was still fun to flirt with him like this.

"If the Avatar needs my help, then I suppose I have no choice in the matter." she whispered into him, as then the winds carried it off to the sea while her eyes closed.

"I truly hope that you can, Waterbending Master Katara." he said to her, since she called him by his full name again, and then he kissed her again with a little more force to her lips again. He put his right arm on the middle of her back as he pressed into her, and making her wrap her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. But he was just as careful, while he used his left arm strength to hold her up, like she was a fragile piece of jewelry. However, he didn't stay balanced for long, as Katara pushed into him, until he was lying on his back. This allowed her to be on top of him as she continued to kiss him _so_ passionately, that he didn't even realize what was going on while his eyes remained closed.

Aang removed her hair from his face that tickled his face, and place it behind her right ear; allowing her another opportunity to catch her breath while she helped remove her hair on the other side of her face. But she went right back to his mouth again, and drowned herself in his love for her. The Airbender's right hand continued to feather touch her lower back, as his hand trace all the way up to her knot that held her, but he didn't bother with it. The feel of her lips on him was just like free falling in the sky all over again, and having his stomach twisting in the craziest ways possible.

The Waterbender was running out of air even quicker than last time, while she continued to hold her breath against him, as he kissed her softly. But she couldn't hold her breath like the Airbender could, and decided to leave his lips to kiss the little scar on his cheek, and then going over to the new one on his eyebrow where Sokka left his mark. Aang wanted to keep things fair, so he started kissing on her neck; lingering in certain spots, and then slid over to left her shoulders. He felt her muscles tighten on top of him, and he smiled at his little victory, and moved back up her neck; kissing her here and there, all the way up to her chin.

Finally, after catching her breath, Katara lowered back down to his lips, and started kissing him again. Aang's tongue slid over her lower lips, and it caused her to open her mouth even wider for him as they fought back against each other. As gently as possible, the Monk rolled her onto her right side without leaving her mouth, and used his right elbow to lift himself up just a little over her as his left hand ran through her fine brown hair. Aang then slowly moved from her lips, to her chin, and dragged them over her jaw line. The Waterbender gasped a little at him, as his warm lips traveled back down to her throat, and making her body have even more goose bumps. And then he traveled back to her lips, her eyes traveled to the back of her head, and started to make her dizzy again.

The heat of the Airbender was starting to warm Katara up while he continued to keep her clenching at his every move, and making it harder for her not to catch her breath. He was so gentle with her, which she didn't mind, but seemed like he was kind of holding back on her for some reason. It was so hard for her to control herself with Aang being like this, so she tried to help him out. The Waterbender trailed her cool hands to his chest, and back down to the end of his shirt, and then pulled out his black undershirt that was tucked in. Her palms went underneath his shirt, and placed them on his hot skin of his lower stomach. Instantly, she felt his abdominals flex, which caused him to suck back his air very quickly.

Aang stopped kissing, and opened his eyes to what she was doing with her hands under his shirt. When she looked up at him, she could see that he seemed even more timid with her, but Katara gradually pulled him back down to her lips. She smiled when he went back to her kissing her, but he still didn't pursue anything more than that. So, she continued to roam up his stomach, while pulling his shirts off little by little. Katara was happy to know that Aang didn't have a scar on his stomach from Sokka, but she could feel the others on his sides as her hands were guided to his back. Her palms ran over the other old wounds, until she got to Azula's mark between his shoulders. She hated that he had to carry that around with him, because it would always remind her of how she almost lost him. And then miraculously brought him back into her life and it was then when she realized that she had feelings for him. It took Aang dying in her arms, to realize that she was falling for him. This memory made Katara pull him down harder onto her, and was getting to the point of taking off his shirt completely, until the Monk grabbed her arms and brought them out from underneath and stopped kissing her.

When she opened her eyes to him, he looked like he hurting for what he did, but he rolled onto his back, breathing very heavily. The Waterbender had never felt so rejected in her life by Aang, and it caused her eyes to tear up a little. She quickly wiped them away, and looked around at their surrounding to help distract herself. Katara was surprised to see that there was fog that seemed to have spread out across the field, as if it was hiding them from the eyes of the world. And now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if it was there the whole time or just rolled in from somewhere.

"_The night is too warm for it to possibly happen, so what caused it?"_ she wondered to herself.

Aang closed his eyes as he tried to control his breathing, which was proving more difficult to him since he was no longer kissing his first and only crush he ever had. Katara was driving him absolutely crazy, and when she put her hands on his stomach, it became far more difficult for him to stay in control when she started pulling his shirts off. He knew he would hurt her when he backed away from her, but he was still so new to everything. It had been so long since he kissed Katara, and he was losing confidence in himself, just because he was younger than her. She seemed to have far more experience than he ever did, and after what just happened, he didn't know how to react to it. In a way, he wanted to let her continue taking off his shirt, but it frightened him too. This was a side of her that he had never experienced before, and he wished he knew why he pulled away from Katara.

The Monks taught him that "_Love is fragile and we're not its best caretakers. Even the best of us make mistakes; we muddle through and do the best we can to hope this fragile thing survives by all odds."_ But they didn't teach him anything about _this_! Monk Gyatso taught him the stages of love, but at the time, he was too young and childish to understand what he was saying. Aang didn't think he would ever need to know these things, because there wasn't a girl Airbender that he had feelings for, and he never thought he would get to be here with Katara. The Air Nomad knew where physical contact would lead to, and that's what made him stop, because Gyatso told him that this should _never_ happen until he was married. However, he didn't tell him how hard it would be to stop it from happening. Aang had to try and fix his mistake, and the only way he could do that was to say three words; which he seemed to be using a lot more with the Waterbender now.

"I'm sorry Katara." he said looking up the millions of stars above them.

The blue eyed girl looked over at him, while he ran his hand through his hair again. She knew he didn't mean to hurt her, but she was curious of what happened. "Why did you pull away Aang? Did I do something wrong?"

The Monk turned his head to her, and then propped up on his elbow to hold himself a little. "No. No, you didn't, but it's just…I…" Aang wanted to be honest with her, but he was afraid that she would just laugh at him, because he wasn't sure of his reasoning. All he knew was that he needed to pull away from her, and clear his mind, which he regretted.

"I—I got nervous Katara…and I know that seems so stupid or idiotic to say, but it's the truth. This was like new territory for me, and the only thing I _think_ I'm good at is kissing you, and even that I'm too sure about that either. I'm only fourteen; still a kid and I feel like you sometimes forget that. Which I'm not saying is bad in the least bit, but you have more experience than me and…" Aang stopped himself from babbling on, as he saw no reaction on the blue eyed girls face.

Aang grunted out loud, and fell back onto his back; putting both his hands over his face, as he waited for the Waterbender to bust out laughing at him. He knew that everyone else would, if they saw him right now. He placed his right arm over his eyes, so as not to see her any more. _"Why am I so bad at this? Why can't I just tell her that I made a promise to Monk Gyatso?"_ the Airbender yelled in his mind.

Katara was actually surprised at how much he doubted himself when he was kissing her, because she too, in fact, wasn't too sure about herself either. Aang was the last boy she ever did truly kiss; and as for 'more experience' she didn't know what he meant by that. However, it was extremely easy for her to forget his age, especially when he didn't act like it all of the time. He wasn't that same little boy in the iceberg that she found so long ago, and here he is, being the better person once again. She didn't know what came over her with Aang and his shirt wanting to come off, but she felt awful for making him do something he wasn't ready for, or something she wasn't ready for either. The Waterbender looked over at the mortified Airbender, with his arm still over his eyes, and not wanting her to see him like this.

Katara smiled at him, and got up on her left elbow, and softly took his arm off his face, and laid it above his head. She looked at his gray eyes that had so much confusion in them, in which she hoped that she would clear things up. The dark skinned girl leaned over to his lips again, and this time, kissed him very softly for just a few second, and pulled away from him.

"You're right Aang." she confessed, "I do forget how old you are, and I'm so sorry for that. And I hope you can forgive me for my strange behavior, but I just felt like I had no control all of the sudden. Maybe, I too got a little nervous when I was kissing you, and it almost seemed like you didn't like it?"

The tattooed boy gave her a small smile, and jokingly said "Actually, you have it all wrong! You are the most astounding kisser I have ever known…or the only one that I have had the pleasure of doing it with. I don't think any ordinary girl, or even another Waterbender could make an Airbender like me, breath that hard. It's so impossible for me to stop kissing you, that it makes me ache to be away from them, and I am glad when you allow me to go back to them." he said, and then started to blush at what he said, but his mind was no longer his when he was around her. It was a gift she had, but it was a curse sometimes to him.

Katara pecked him another kiss, "Good answer! Your not so bad yourself." she said and gave him a wink for him. She loved it when he blushed like that, because she knew that Aang was telling the truth to her.

Then the little kid came out of Aang, "Really? Because I was so scared that I wasn't good at all, and I wasn't sure if I could make you happy! But obviously, I got it!"

The Waterbender laughed at his kid humor, "Now don't get your head so full of air that I'll have to refrain from doing that again for you." she said jokingly.

The Monk gave her a huge grin, with a twinkle in his eyes and said, "Come on, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple Monk!"

"And there goes the 'air' headed part!" she said sarcastically, as it made them both remember what happened on Kyoshi Island, with his 'Fan' girls running after him. This caused them both laugh at each other, and then Katara laid her head and right hand on his chest; feeling the heat of his body and the beat of his own heart. Aang put his right hand over her cool shoulder, and then moved a little bit farther down until he felt the skin of her sides and left his hand there.

"So, how long did it take you to find me?" he asked curiously, since no one seemed to help him find the Tavern very easily.

"Not long at all. When I found that piece of paper, I decided to ask Raiden. He was playing 'mercy' with Sokka, and when I asked he said he knew exactly where it was at. So he guided us there…and the rest you pretty much know." she said, remembering On Ji kissing him.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"For what?" she asked dumbfounded, even though he obviously knew what she was thinking.

Aang decided to play along, "For On Ji—you know…?" he hinted, not wanting to even put 'kissing' and On Ji in the same sentence.

For some reason Katara just laughed a little, and thought of a good question to ask. "When she asked if she was prettier than me, why did you close your eyes and smile then?" Right when the Waterbender asked this, she felt the pumping of his heart increase, and more heat coming off of his body. She put her chin on his chest, and looked up at him, as she could see him blushing again.

Aang couldn't believe that she had heard _that_ much and he didn't even know her presence was there, and that bugged him now. Usually, he could sense her coming in a room easily, but the Airbender obviously didn't this time. And now that he thought about it, he didn't even feel the two elements in the necklace, which was still heavy in his left pocket now, until they started separating out. _"Odd."_ was all that the Monk could think at this point.

The Air Nomad gazed down at Katara, whose left face was being shined on by the bright moon, and making her look so wonderfully, dazzling to him. It's like, Yue wanted him to see her beautiful side again, even though he already knew how beautiful she truly was; it just gave him another reason to be thankful that someone as gorgeous as _she_, would ever consider being with a kid like _him_. He had changed so much, but for the past week, he could see that Katara liked it when he would be his normal kid self again. And after some minutes of him just looking at her in awe, with love in her light blue eyes, he decided to answer her question.

"You would just laugh at me Katara. To me, it was a wonderful thought, but to you, it might be silly."

The Waterbender lifted on eyebrow up, as she could see he thought of her when On Ji asked the question. And it only boosted her curiosity. "I won't laugh Aang. I just want to know, what it is that made you smile?"

The tattooed boy just sighed at her, shook his head and laid it back on the moist grass to look up at the stars hanging all around the moon. Then he felt hands go to his sides, and the next thing he knew, Katara began to tickle him. The Monk started busting out laughing, as he could see that she had found his weakness, while she laughed at him too. Aang went after her too, with his hands gliding back to her stomach, and tickled her back. However, he couldn't tickle her for long, because he was too ticklish and had to finally surrender to her, because he started to have laughing tears running down his face.

"Okay! Okay! You win, I'll tell! I'll tell" he laughed loudly to the universe, and finally got a hold of Katara's hands and brought them over his head. Without realizing his own strength, he brought her right on top of his body, while her face hanged close over his. Her hair tangled onto his face, and drifted onto his face, as her cool breathing sent chills down his entire body. His butterflies had multiplied again, and he could feel the fog starting to form around them again. Katara knew how to _beat_ the answers out of him, but he hated that all it took was for her to tickle him, until she saw tears in his eyes.

"I promise to tell you, if you are willing to get off of me." he smiled, still holding her hands behind his head, but could still feel her soft arms barely grazing both sides of his face.

Katara gave him a crooked grin, "Not my fault that you put me in this position." she said in a joking matter. The Waterbender didn't object to the way he moved her swiftly over him, and _still_ hanging on to her wrist. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it a little bit too much.

Aang blushed at the realization that he put her over him, like a rag doll, and finally let go of her wrist, while gently pushing her off of him. She sat on the backs of her calves, while he sat up, with his right knee was up, and his left was underneath. He leaned back on his arms, and just for a few seconds, listened to the ocean hitting the rocks below, as they crashed against one another. The Monk looked back at the dark skinned girl, and just decided it was better to tell her the truth.

"When On Ji asked me that question, I wasn't sure how to answer her."

The Waterbender looked at him a little strangely as to what he meant, but decided not to interrupt him.

"You see, to be honest with you, she was indeed very beautiful." he said, and then saw Katara's jaw tighten a tiny bit. Which it only caused him to smirk a little, so Aang decided to play around with her for a few more seconds, since she was good at making him react the same way when she was surrounded with other guys.

"I mean she was very pretty when I met her, but she had really grown to be a beautiful girl. I'm not going to deny that, plus she seems to be a really good dancer too."

"_Keep pushing it Air Boy." _Katara thought to herself,_ "Lets see how far you get before I summon enough water to drown those thoughts away."_

"However," Aang said, as he could see that he was making the blue eyed girl jealous, "when she asked me that question, I didn't know how to respond, because I didn't want to hurt her. So…I closed my eyes, and when I compared her to you, I smiled at the answer I had come up with." The Airbender didn't say anything else for about thirty seconds, now that he had Katara's full attention.

"Which was?" she asked in a sweeter manner.

Aang laughed through his nose, and said, "In my mind I thought she was a pretty candle. But _you_, Katara, are the sunrise. I already knew that no one could ever come close to you, so I was trying to figure out what to say nicely, and it only made me smile because there was no way I could give her a gentle answer. And I believe that when she saw me smile, she thought I was thinking of her." the Monk added, hoping it would clear everything out.

Now it was Katara's turn to blush a little now, once she heard of what Aang thought of her. She didn't understand why he would think that she would laugh at him, but instead she very intrigued at how he responded. On Ji was indeed a very beautiful girl, she had grown up so much since the last time she saw her dancing with Aang that night in the caves. She wouldn't be a bit surprised if guys surrounded her constantly, and asking her to be their girlfriend, but not _her_ Aang.

"That is either the craziest comparison in the history of comparing." Katara said which caused Airbender to look at the grass and began to pick at it. And then she added with a pleased grin, "Or that is by far the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said about me."

This made the Monks head pop up, with a slow smile that widened up to his ears. "Well it's pretty easy to tell you this stuff, instead of another girl. But it's also the truth Katara. There is truly no one else in this world I want to be with. I can't stand not being around you, or talking, or just looking at your beauty. It's like looking at Ang—" but before he could say Angel, Katara had decided to kiss him again.

The Monks eyes rolled to the back of his head again, while she ran her hands in his hair, and continued to make out with him and then she pushed him back onto the wet grass around them. Aang didn't object this time, as they put every amount of happiness into each others kiss. She was literally drowning him with her lips on his, and the Airbender loved it so much, that it didn't seem fair to all of the other couples out there, who didn't know the true meaning of love.

Once Katara was satisfied with her addiction from Aang, she rolled back on his right side and put her head back on his chest once she caught her breath. His heart was like a wild Ostrich Stallion that just couldn't be tamed, and she just loved the sound of it. It was crazy how he had this kind of effect on her; she could do it for hours, or even days with him, and he could still make her come crawling back and wanting more from the Avatar.

"I forgive you by the way." she smiled to the layer of land in front of her, and felt Aang's lips press against the top of her head. But then her smile faded, "I just hate that you hide things from me…" Right when she said that, Aang stopped breathing and tightened his stomach underneath her hand. The Monk knew this was coming, but hoped it wouldn't come this quickly.

"Aang, I know you are still keeping secrets from me. And I hope you know that I will eventually find out what it is…" Katara proclaimed, since she was still willing to be with him, he needed to know.

The Monk's chest rose and then fell back down. "Well I guess there is no hiding it anymore…I plan to cut my hair off again." he said meaning it, but tried to make it funny.

Katara rolled her eyes at him, and then said "Don't change the subject Aang. I mean other secrets that you won't tell me about! I want to know."

The Air Nomad sighed heavily, "I wish you wouldn't try to figure it out."

"Why?" she asked not looking up at his face.

"Katara…my life, as the Avatar, is very dangerous. There are just some secrets that I can never share, because I want to protect the ones closest to me."

The Waterbender shook her head against him, not wanting to hear that excuse. "You know when people say that kind of stuff about protecting people they love, it eventually comes attacking them anyways. Whether you are protect us or not."

Again, the Airbender exhaled heavily, "I just need you to trust me. That is all I ask of you Katara, and if you don't want to be with me because of it, then I will understand. It will hard for me, but I would rather protect you as my friend if nothing else."

Automatically the Waterbender clung to his shirt, as the thought of letting him go again became horrific to her. He was protecting her from something…something that scared him enough to leave her for almost two years. Katara knew that every person in the world had their secrets, even she did, but it was different for Aang. He had changed so much in the past year and a half, and the only thing she knew about his recent past was that he roamed the Earth Kingdom, he was with Guru Pathik, and he left to protect her. But could she really trust him again? Could she trust him to make the right decision in telling her these things? Katara was going to find out eventually, but was hoping for him to tell her though. However, she wasn't willing to give him any more time, because she was tired of having only half of him now. It was in their nature to tell each other everything, and it was one of the things she loved about their relationship when they were just friends. The blue eyed girl looked up at him, in which made him react the same way, and then she kissed him again, and then pulled away slowly with her looking into his gray eyes.

"Aang, I trusted you, before I ever knew you were the Avatar. My brother and my people thought you were the enemy, but I had already formed a bond with you. I was willing to leave my tribe and my brother, in order to prove to them wrong about you. If that doesn't prove that I trusted you just as much then, as I do now, then I hope you will learn to trust me enough to tell me what is going on with you. I'm tired of being in the dark!"

Katara was very good at convincing people to tell her the truth, and he did trust her, but he was just plain scared. However, he was willing to tell her just enough to please her. Aang hoped that he was doing the right thing by telling her this, because it could cost him everything that they had come to right now.

"I do Katara, I really do. But it is not something I can truly explain, because I still don't understand it either." he said very sadly, and sighed. "There is a…battle going on within my body—or my spirit I should say." Aang declared. The blue eyed girl put her chin up on his chest, and tried to understand him.

"What do you mean by _your_ Spirit, Aang?"

The Monk licked his lips, as he desperately wanted to tell her the truth, but his fear was growing again. The rate of his pulse was increasing, as well as his breathing too, while questions of doubt were running through his head. Would he lose her if he told her the truth, or should he wait and tell her? If he told her now, he could get it over with, and hopefully move on with his life without her there, which was impossible to do. Or he could wait to tell her later, and it would give them more time to be with each other, but if she ever saw him battling Ozai, then how would he explain himself then? He could be selfish again, or come clean…the last time he was self-centered, he hurt her badly. And if he chooses to tell the truth, he could lose her forever. Aang knew what that both would cost him dearly, but which one could he possibly choose.

"Katara…I-I'm not, good anymore." he whispered to her, and laid his head on the wet grass underneath. "I mean my spirit is good, but there is also evil stirring in me."

"Aang, we all have that evilness in each and every one of us, but it doesn't mean that you are this bad person." Katara said, as she could see that this was something that was perhaps changing him a lot, and it was scarring him. The Monk shook his head, and removed himself from underneath Katara, and stood up while reaching into his right pocket to reveal the folded up vanilla creased letter in between his index finger and left thumb. He then handed to her and walked to the edge of the cliff, and sat there with his feet dangling down.

Katara looked at the letter, and right when she opened it, she could see that a lot of the words had faded in the folded up areas. However, Aang read it aloud to her, without taking his eyes off of the rocks being smashed by the ocean underneath him.

"_Aang,_

_I'm so sorry, but my time has at long last come. I have lived in this world for more than 150 years, and I have done all I can for you within a year and a half. My purpose in this life is over, but a new one begins. The journey never ends young Avatar, no matter if there is death or life; we all have a part to play. And I have played mine in this, and I will continue on in another._

_Aang, the last thing I wanted to leave you with, is that you must never shut yourself off from love. Love is what connects us to every living thing. Just as when you thought that you lost the love of your people, you were able to find it in a new form in Katara. You _must_ tell her how you feel, because love is far more powerful than any bending or spirit out there. And Ozai will use it against you, if you keep holding it back._

_You must also remember Aang, that you are never alone. Your friends need you, and you _will_ need them in the end. Continue your training, and keep that child's heart a flame._

_Guru Pathik."_ Aang quoted without missing a single word, and then he picked up a small rock, and threw it as far and hard as he could with it disappearing into the dark ocean. He realized that whatever chance he had to be with the woman he loved, died when she heard Ozai's name.

Katara was silenced when he finished quoting every word, and read it all again, and again, and again. Now, there were a million more questions that she had for him, and the major question was about Ozai. How could he use something against Aang, when he is locked up in the Fire Nation, along with Azula too? This letter said a lot, but then again, it didn't.

"What does he mean that Ozai will use it against you Aang?" she asked in a whisper, and was surprised that he could actually hear it.

"It means…" he began, and took a deep breath and exhaled it all out before he continued on. "Ozai is the evil spirit that lives inside of me, Katara. And, I don't know how to get rid of him…that was the real reason why I left. It was the only way, but Guru Pathik died before I could complete my training." The Monk then told her of everything that had happened, from his Energybending Ozai, to the types of training that he did with his friend until his death happened, and even how the Spirit seems to attack him. He didn't stop talking until he was completely finished, and then his tears started to trickle down his face. Aang didn't mean to tell here everything, but it was hard to explain something without having a reason behind it. The Airbender was tired of crying tonight, because it seemed to show that he was too emotional, but he just couldn't help it. After finally telling the truth about everything, the Monk felt like someone had finally taken off the chains that he had been dragging for so long, and released him their bonds. But now the quiet between them was unbearable for him, as he fought the urge not to look at her, and continued to stare at the sky.

The Waterbender just sat there in silence, and feeling her whole body go completely numb. The one man she hated, and was terrified of, lived within the man she fell in love with. All that they had fought for and sacrificed for the world almost seemed like it was for nothing with his 'Spirit' inside of Aang now. To be honest, Katara just didn't know what to say to him right now. She felt anger, and hatred towards Ozai her whole life, and now she wondered if she would feel the same thing towards Aang too.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked to the light forming in the east, understanding that the sun was finally coming up, and that his world was about to end now.

Everything that was within Katara screamed _yes_, but her heart seemed to have not changed its feelings toward him in the slightest. She was afraid of Ozai, but not of Aang. A part of her wanted to tell him that she could no longer be with him, but a stronger part of her love for him, made her realize that she couldn't live another day without him there by her side. She couldn't go through life, living it with no purpose in it again, and walking as if it was just a dream to her. Without him, there was no life, no happiness, and no love for anything. It was that plain to her, and she needed the Monk to know that. She pushed herself up, with the letter still in her hand, and went over to sit next to Aang. But his reaction was to scoot over, and to give her more space. He looked awful right now, with his head facing down at the ocean, like he was ready to jump at any second. Katara looked to her right, and couldn't believe that the sun was trying to peek through the night now, because she didn't feel the least bit exhausted, as the adrenaline was pumping into her blood.

"No Aang." she said sweetly, to answer his question. "I am not afraid of _you_. I love you still."

The Monk parted his lips a little, and looked over to Katara in shock. "You don't understand Katara…there is an evil Spirit that is growing inside of me! How can you still love me, knowing of what I am now?" he asked, wiping a drop of water away from his face.

Katara's heart was breaking for the Avatar, as she acknowledged how much it hurt him to say that to her, but more than anything else; he was still willing to protect her and the others too. Even though he did change a lot, there was so much love and kindness still in his heart. After seeing how he was with Shing, he was willing to do whatever it took to bring back peace to the world as he had promised to do.

"Because, I know who you really are. And I know it is risky for me to be with you, but I still am willing to stay with you no matter what happens. Your letter says that love is what connects us to everything, and that it is far more powerful than you think!" Katara argued. "Even though you memorized each and every word of this letter, you still don't seem to understand it meaning!"

The Monk turned his head to the right quickly, and tightened his hands into a ball. "I understand the meaning perfectly Katara." he spoke slowly, almost in an angry tone, "I know what it says about love, and how I have found it in you, but I don't want you to get hurt by me again…I could never live with myself."

The Waterbender raised her right hand, and put it on his left cheek, while looking at his gray spheres. "No." Katara said holding back her angry tears, "You don't get to make that decision for me. If you walk away, it's for you, because I know what I want. Aang, I love you. And I'm willing to be with you at any cost, because I can't stand to be without you anymore. When you left me, you broke me in ways that I don't ever want to remember. I cried for months over you, because for so long I thought it was my fault, but it was also because living without you, is like dying of thirst in a desert. And even after almost two years, no one could fix me, because my heart was thrown all over the ocean when we searched for you. But when you came back…you found _every_ piece out there, and made me whole again. For once, I am not looking up in the skies, hoping you would come flying back to us, or just waiting for news of your death! I won't do that again! I will always be by your side…until I stop breathing; I won't stop fighting with you. Please don't shut me out—please don't stop believing in us." she begged with her tears flowing.

Aang desperately wanted to say yes, but the dream of her dying by his hands, scared him even more. He believed that he could win, but he didn't know of what the cost would be with Katara and the others there too. He loved them all, and was still willing to lay his life down for each and every one of them. He would sacrifice his own happiness, in order to make sure that their lives would prosper without him. But as he looked at Katara, he wanted to believe she could help, but unless she was a Spirit Teacher, then there wasn't much she could do.

"I'm trying to protect you! Can't you see that?" he yelled at her again, trying to convince her that this wasn't a good idea. "If I ever hurt you again, like I did before—"

"You leaving me is more painful than any other physical injury!" she bellowed back at him, and put her other hand on his free cheek. "I want to help you. Even if I can't, I will never forgive myself, if I know that I didn't do everything in my power to help you! If it means for me to stay away from you, then so be it; however, if you are just doing it, because you think that you have to, then don't do this. I won't lose you ever again. I believe, with all my heart, that we can win against this 'Spirit' inside of you. I have always trusted in your decision making, even though it was hard, but I need you to trust me! Can you do that?" she whispered that last sentence.

The Monk clenched his jaws, "I—I don't know…" he admitted.

Katara's right lip started to curl, as a memory came back into her mind. "Do you remember when I was afraid to fly again, after falling through the sky because the glider was messed up?"

The Airbender nodded, recalling that event very well as Katara continued. "I was so afraid of heights after that, that I would never do it again. But you held your hand out to me, and asked if I trusted you or not. You told me_ 'I promise I'll be right with you, and I won't let go of you until you choose to.'_ And then I asked in fear, _'What if I keep falling and you won't be there?'_"

"I just remember you laughing at me Aang, and then you declared, _'Do you really think I would ever do that to you?'_ And even though I knew you wouldn't, my fear was taking control over me, and then you said to me, '_I need you to trust me again. I want to experience this with you. I will hold your hand the entire time if I have to, but please, I want you to trust me on this.'_ That was when I knew everything was going to be okay Aang, and I want you to take that same leap of faith with me." she said emphasizing every word to his hopeless face. Katara released her hands from his face and stood up with his eyes watching her every move.

And then she held her left hand out to him, "I promise to never let go of you, even if you are falling through the skies… please trust _me_, as I once did with you Aang. You took that fear away from me that night, and made it into a special memory that I will forever cherish. Let me help you." Katara spoke softly to him, like a feather brushing over your skin.

The tattooed boy looked up at her through his watery eyes, and was surprised at how well her memory was. But this was completely different…or was it? Aang felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because if he chose to be with Katara, then it was a higher risk of his vision coming true of him killing her. However, the Guru told him that he must never shut himself from love, and that he will need his friends in the end, and he will need them too. Aang promised on the spot where Guru Pathik died, that he would honor him, by remembering what he had taught him. He either could trust the Guru, or protect Katara…

"_Monkey feathers!"_ he said to himself, wishing that the choice was easy make, but he knew protecting Katara was the better decision. The Monk looked up at the hand, and then followed the trail up her arm and to her face, with the sun was beginning to warm his skin now.

"I'm sorry Katara…but I have to do what is right." he said looking down at the moist grass, and then got up on his own, without reaching for her hand. The Airbender saw that hand fall back to her side slowly, and then covered her mouth as she tried to hold back her pain that was ready to burst out of her.

But then, Aang took her left hand into his, and grasped it tightly. He put on his most serious face, and looked deeply into her dark blue eyes, with the sun half way up now. "I would be a fool not to trust in the woman that I love. But I have to ask you one more time…" he said, and cleared her tears away as he saw joy in her face now. "Are you sure that you can still be with me, even after learning everything?"

Katara hated that he was doubting himself, without even realizing how much stronger he was. Her lips curled to her eyes, and she got on her tiptoes, and kissed him with so much care behind. Aang wrapped his hands on her lower back, and felt her hair blowing against the tops of his hands and arms. The Waterbender lowered herself from his face, and stood back on her heels.

"Wherever you go, I will follow. No matter the journey, or danger, I will stand with you Aang. No. Matter. What." she spoke with so much passion in every single word to him. In a way, to her, it seemed like she was almost making a marriage vow to him, but she quickly dismissed the idea. However, the thought of being married to Aang, seemed to make her heart leap out of her throat.

Aang's grinned at her, and gently place his forehead on hers, and closed his eyes. "Okay. You win. But if you ever tell me to leave, then you should know that I will; I'll walk away when you ask me."

"Stop saying that to me. I can't live without you anymore Aang." she smiled back at him.

Aang kissed her on the forehead, "I just want you to know that if you ever change your mind, then I will understand."

"We will take it day by day Aang. And with the sun rising up, I would say that it is a brand new day for us both." Katara said with the warm rays hitting on her back, "A day, in which I am thankful to have you back in my life."

The Airbender laughed aloud, "Well I suppose there is one question I have to ask though." he said.

"What?" she asked confused.

"How are we going to tell your brother that we are…well, you know…?"

"Together?"

The Monk nodded, "Yeah."

Now it was Katara's turn to laugh, and then she hugged him. "Like I said, we will take it day by day with him, as well as…well just Sokka." Katara felt his chin on her head, as his lips pressed the top of her head again, and it made her dizzy.

"What do you mean just him? Do the others—?"

She tightened her hug on him, "Let's just say that they never gave up on us, and that they have been watching us very carefully. Sometimes Sokka tries to deny what he sees, but in the end, he seems to always know what is going on."

"That's comforting to know." the Airbender spoke with sarcasm, "Do you think he will try to kill me again?"

Again, the Waterbender laughed, "It's possible."

Aang sighed to Katara, with the thoughts of a pearl sword swinging at him again, but at least this time, it would be for a different reason. The Monk moved himself on Katara's right side with his left arm on her upper back now. Together, the Avatar and the Waterbender watched the beautiful sun come up, as it warmed up their moist skin. It was indeed a new day for them, because last night or a few hours ago, no longer mattered to them. Just being able to stand there, with arms around each other, and knowing that Katara wouldn't leave him no matter what, meant the world to him. And it scared him still, but it comforted him too, because it gave him that much more of a reason, to continue working hard on his training, in defeating Ozai; as well as to keep his heart child's heart a flame.

"_A new day begins."_ he thought to himself, _"And I won't fail Katara or the Gang again. I will find a way to get this Demon out of me, and I will save the world from this Rebellion. I'll keep fighting until I have nothing else to fight for."_

**So...I hope I pleased everyone with this chapter, and I'm sorry if my descriptions and emotions weren't as my previous chapters, but like I said, this onr was very challenging to me. I kept changing things, and then redoing it again-it was indeed a huge challenge for me since eveyone like KatAang. I love KatAang, but I fear that you guys won't like it. **

**But anywho, I am not a fan of sex scenes, and I like the idea of Aang keeping that promise to Monk Gyatso. I guess I'm weird like that, but I believe in marriage first =) but it doesn't mean there won't be a lot of heated moments between them! ;)**

**Okay, you guys know what to do. Please tell me if you liked it, or if you didn't. Like I said, I'm on the fence with this chapter, and I hope to hear from ALL of you guys! I do read them ALL!**

**Peace and Love KatAang Fans!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys, so first off I'm REALLY sorry that this update is late. I just needed a break from it, and with school and all, it became much more difficult for me to do :( so again I am sorry, and I hope you will forgive me and I'm ready to get back into my mode now. Anyways, thanks again to all of you AVATARDS out there who commented/reviewed my last chapter! You kicked some serious butt, and also thanks for the e-mails too!**** I'll get to them this week so if you sent me one a while back, I'll write back as quickly as I can. **

**So I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I hope you like it enough anyways. I don't own anything of A:TLA. Sorry for my spelling and grammaring ahead of time or repeating words! Enjoy!**

Aang and the Gang were flying over the dark ocean now; it was a beautiful day, with cloudless skies, and the sun high above them. According to Sokka's map, they were maybe less than a few fifty miles away from the Earth Kingdoms territory. The Monk was happy to get out of the Fire Nation, and into some older lands of his past. Aang had decided to head into Hei Bai's Forest, so that they could rest again while he would seek some answers that he was looking for. The Airbender couldn't sleep the last night, because of everything that happened two days ago with Katara and him. They had finally worked their problems out, but he was still afraid for her life, especially since she didn't believe that he was going to kill her. He desperately wanted to change his friends and his future, which was why he was going to the forest. It is a Spiritual Place, and very peaceful, in which he hoped he could seek the knowledge of wisdom from someone. However, the only thing Aang had on his mind was what happened when his friends found out about them being back together.

_Katara and Aang had decided to walk back to the Inn that they were staying in, and held hands all the way back to it. Unfortunately, once they got there they let go of each others hands regrettably, because the Monk wanted to tell Sokka first this time. Katara had insisted on telling him herself, but the last thing he wanted to jeopardize with Sokka again was his trust. He had finally been warming up to him, and getting along, so he figured the best way to win back his friend is to get his blessings on dating his sister. It seemed silly to ask for a blessing to be with someone, but he figured it was the right thing to do. As soon as they walked into the door, Aang could tell that they all seemed to have just gotten up from sleeping, except for Sokka, and were all eating their breakfast together. Suki was the first to look at them, once the Airbender slid the door behind them. They both walked in, trying to hide their smiles while they kept looking back at each other from the corner of their eyes._

_The Kyoshi Warrior just smiled at them, "Well where have you two been all night? We went looking for you, but couldn't find you anywhere at the dance party." she proclaimed. In which this caused everyone else to look at them all of the sudden, and see them both smiling happily. _

_Katara looked at Aang, and then back at her friends. "We just talked for a while, and lost track of time I suppose?" she said, and went to get some food with Aang following her lead. _

_Toph's dirty feet were propped up on the table, with her chair leaning back and Teo next to her. Even though the Blind Girl couldn't feel their vibrations, she could already tell that she was lying, due to the fact that there was a change in her voice when she said _lost track of time_. _

"_Is that all you two did?" Toph asked rhetorically, "_Just_ talked, huh?"_

_Zuko and Mai weren't really paying any attention to them, until the Earthbender said that, and now they had their full attention. _

"_Why do you both have grass in your hair?" Zuko asked examining their faces now, after the two got a small plate of food and sat down with them all. Instantly, Aang looked over, and had completely forgotten about the grass that they had laid on and rolled in. They both started to blush at each other, and suddenly became interested in their food in front of them._

"_What's up with you two?" Teo asked politely, remembering to give Toph some descriptions. "Why are you both glowing?"_

_Aang pushed half of a fruit into his mouth, and tried chewing on it. His mouth got huge, as he tried to keep his mouth shut, but juice dripped out from the sides of his lips. When Katara saw this, she let a little bit of her laugh slip out and then she held it back in. Her eyes then caught Suki's, and then the Waterbender just grinned wider at her soon to be Sister-In-Law._

"_You know Teo and Zuko have some very good questions," Suki announced, "but I am much more curious about the grass in _both_ of your hair."_

_Katara and Aang just sat there, looking at their food in front of them, and didn't know what to say. The Monk couldn't believe that he didn't see the evidence sooner, but it was hard for him to stay focused with Katara in her Fire Nation out fit. He remembered when he first saw her in it, and feeling his cheeks redden as he looked at how beautiful she was, and still is. And that she allowed his hands to travel on her silky soft skin, and more importantly, to kiss her once again without apologizing for it. _

_The Waterbender peeked over at the Airbender, who was just twiddling with his thumbs under the table, and blushing like crazy. So, she thought that she could try and straighten things out for them both. They wanted everyone to know, but Aang asked for her permission to hold out on it until _he_ told Sokka himself. _

"_Well—" she began with her little lie, but as always Toph knew instantly._

"_Ah, come on! Don't forget I can tell that you're lying! Your crazy heart is already giving me enough vibration to cause an earthquake, so just for the sake of arguing, are you two Love Birds back together or not?" the Blind Girl asked, but already knew the answer by the tempo of their hearts. _

_The Waterbender and the Airbender looked at each other, and they just couldn't stop smiling at the reality of their fantasy coming true. Finally, Aang looked at the group around him, and said with his cute smile that Katara loved, "Yes…yes we are."_

"_Yes!" Toph yelled in victory, and it confused Katara and Aang as the group started to mumble, while reaching into their pockets. "Pay up suckers! I win!" _

_Everyone was getting out their money and then tossing onto the table, in front of Toph, even Teo was in on it. The pile ended up being about ten gold pieces, plus a dagger from Mai, who actually seemed to show some emotion in giving up her precious knife. The Earthbender began to scan for the money on the table with her hands, making sure that it everything was there. _

_Katara was appalled, "You guys bet on us getting back together?" she said a little infuriated, but not too mad. She was actually happy to know that they all believed that she and Aang would work out their problems, but she couldn't show that she wasn't mad. The dark skinned girl looked over at Aang, who seemed like he was holding back his laugh a little, as he tried to agree with her._

"_Look Sugar Queen, we knew you would get back with Twinkle Toes over there! So, we placed a bet on it, once you found out about him being back and all. We had to have our fun somehow, from both of your miseries!" she proclaimed, and bit into one of the coins to make sure they didn't jip her. _

_Now, the Waterbender was a little mad, and looked over at Suki. "How long?" she asked._

_Suki shrugged, "You're a week early. I didn't think you would take my advice _so_ quickly." she said, not in the least bit embarrassed, but happy for the young couple to finally be back. _

_Then the chocolate haired girl looked to the right, where Toph was, and then fixed her eyes on Teo. "I said a month…I seem to suck at reading people or gambling for that matter." he said referring to Toph, in which it seemed like their relationship hadn't gotten any farther. Katara continued scanning the rest of the group._

"_Mine was three days ago." Zuko said with no disappointment in losing his 3 gold pieces._

"_I just needed one _more_ day!" Mai said, still looking at her long lost dagger that was being used as a toothpick for Toph's teeth. _

_Katara was about to protest, but the Monk just simply took her hand underneath the table and squeezed gently. And just like that, everything melted off of her, when she saw the love in his eyes, and not caring about what the others thought. He was just happy to have her once again and hopefully for the rest of his life._

_Once the Airbender calmed her down, he looked back at everyone else. "I only hope you guys will let _me_ tell Sokka first."_

_Then Toph started busting out laughing, "Oh don't worry Fancy Dancer, we won't say anything! Because we are betting on what he is going to do to you! I vote that he'll stick you with the sword that you made for him!"_

_Aang got nervous, and then looked at Teo, "I voted he is going to skin your blue arrowed tattoos off." he said, as his eyes suddenly became preoccupied with the left side of his wheel. _

_The Monk looked at Zuko, "I think he'll fight you, but not kill you."_

_Mai was sitting next to her husband, and answered before he could ask. "I just want my dagger back…" she said, not caring about what was going to happen to him, as long as she got her small piece of happiness back. "I said he'd break your ribs again." she added with no hint of humor at all, like the others seemed to kind of have. _

_His eyes traveled to Suki's, "Sorry Aang, but I kind of voted that he would do a 'sneak attack' move on you." she declared, even though he wasn't any good at that kind of stuff. And that kind of comforted Aang, but now he was starting to sweat as his imagination started to take over. _

_Katara saw him looking worried, and then said "I'll take that bet! What's the cost to get in?" Everyone's eyes, including Aang's got big, as if they couldn't believe what they just heard. The Waterbender remembered the blind girl always telling her that she doesn't know how to have fun, so it was time for her to improvise a little. _

_Toph raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she was actually being serious. "Chores; like cleaning up Appa when his new fur coat comes in, which will be _very_ soon. Setting up the tents and making a fire for a week, their night shifts, carrying everyone's packs when we walk, and my personal favorite, hunting with Sokka and doing his laundry for four nights straight. Winner chooses who does what, and to get in, you have to say what Sokka will do to Aang."_

_The blue eyed girl thought about it for a few seconds, and then smiled deviously. "How about we make it more interesting?" _

_Toph stopped what she was doing, and leaned over the table, starring at her. "You got something in mind 'Ace'?" _

"_No!" Aang said for her nervously, "No, no, she's just kidding Toph, she doesn't _mean_ it!"_

_Katara looked over at him, and squeezed his hand a little too hard that it caught him off guard. "I bet that the only thing that Sokka will do, is give him a black eye, and that's it."_

_Now the Monk was scared, "Katara! You're supposed to bet _for_ me, not _against_ me!"_

_The Waterbender ignored him, "If I win, then you have to go a whole two weeks of no sarcasm or nicknames. You actually have to be nice, and call us all by our _real_ names all of the time!"_

"_And if _you_ lose," the blind Earthbender said, "you don't get to mother us anymore. We can do whatever we want, without you nagging to us about how wrong or stupid our plans or ideas are! For example, if I want to gamble our money away again, then you can't keep telling me it's too dangerous and what not. I decide on when _I_ want to stop. Deal?" she asked spitting in her hand and then holding out her hand in the middle of the table. _

_Without thinking anything of it, Katara did the same thing and took her hand; feeling those rough hands of hers squeezing her. And when she finally let go, she put her feet back up on the table, while leaning back in a relaxed way._

"_This will be like taking rock candy from a baby Waterbender." Toph said with an evil smile. _

"_Not as easy as taking it from a blind girl." Katara retaliated back at her in a competitive tone, and the relaxed back into her chair, while the two girls had a stare off. _

_Aang didn't understand what just happened, but he was the person being gambled on now. "Are you crazy?" he whispered to her, "You actually voted he would do something to me! Have you lost your mind?"_

_The Waterbender just kissed him on his cheek and said, "Sorry, but at the moment it seemed like fun."_

"_Fun? You're betting against me?" he said a little too loud and then let go of her hand, when he heard Sokka walking down the stairs._

"_Betting against you on what?" Sokka asked directly to Aang, but then his eyes darted towards the food to his left once he got down the steps. The food became his number one priority very quickly. _

_Toph grinned, "Just a fight that is going to happen very soon."_

_The older brother looked at all of them, and said, "Well my vote is with Toph. She seems to _always_ win, when it comes to gambling. Whatever the bet is, I'll put in two gold pieces!"_

_The Earthbender's smile didn't fade at all, "Like I said Katara, like taking rock candy from a Waterbending baby." _

Aang got the chills at the idea of what Sokka was going to do to him, but he wasn't going to let him beat him up this time. Gyatso taught him enough to be fast and agile, and to avoid a fight; this would cause his opponent to get tired even quicker. He hated fighting people, even though sometimes it was necessary, but he would always try and find an alternative if he could.

Katara was sitting behind Aang, a little to his left side as she kept looking at him. He was back in his original clothes of gray pants, black shoes, and his airbending clothes slung on one shoulder. But the one thing that she just couldn't stop looking at was Aang's shaved head. All of his hair was completely gone, and it was just so strange to see him like that again. The last time she saw him in that manner; it was after he came back from fighting Ozai. But it was so wonderful to see his blue arrows showing proudly on his head once again, but she just couldn't believe that he was serious about doing it. However, Katara knew the reason to this doing; he was hoping to bring out the Rebellion even more, since they were out of Fire Nation waters. The Monk was tired of being hidden, and if his tattoos didn't prove enough to bring out the enemy, then something was going to have to be done, and fast.

The chocolate haired girl touched her Mother's necklace again, and rubbed it in between her fingers; wishing that she could have gotten to know Aang before she died. Kya would have absolutely loved him, just because he made Katara happy. She always imagined that if she ever got a boyfriend, she and her Mom would just spend hours talking about him, what he was like, was he a good kisser, how he treated her, and so on. Then Kya would give her some advice on boy issues, how to handle them, and what tricks she could use on him to convince the Airbender of something. This in a way, she kind of all ready figured out Aang's weak points, and exploited them. During the nights when she couldn't sleep as they looked for the Airbender, she remembered just pouring her heart out to her Mom. Telling her _everything_ as if she were there right beside her; sometimes, she would laugh and cry when talking to her, and telling her how much she missed and loved her. Katara would always give her updates on what was going on, even though she knew that Kya was watching her and Sokka; it was always nice to imagine that she didn't know anyways.

The bald Monk decided to stretch his back out for a little bit, and turned his head around to look at everyone. Toph and Mai were arguing over the lost dagger that she lost still, while Zuko, Sokka, and Suki were reading at maps; finding destinations that were around them. Teo was flying around and invited Aang to join him, but the Avatar decided to let him control the skies for a little while. The Air Nomad got off of Appa's head, and decided to sit next to Katara, who seemed to be thinking about her mom again. She would always get this look of pain in her face, when she touched her Mother's necklace, as if remembering the day she found her burned to death. Aang hated seeing her like that, and wished he could make that pain go away. He would do just about anything to help her.

Aang decided to give some space between them, especially with Sokka peeping from his map, and watching him like a hawk. Katara was back in her Warriors outfit, which still amazed him at how beautiful she still looked in it; it wasn't fair that even if she wore rags, she would still look gorgeous in them. Her hair was half up again, and her hair loopies still there in her hair which he liked very much on her, because it reminded him of the good days when he tried to impress her with his abilities.

"Your Mom must be so proud of you Katara." Aang said quietly to her with only the clouds to hear him.

Katara opened her eyes slowly at him, and gave him a halfhearted smile. "Yeah…I hope so." she said, but didn't seem to believe it.

"Then why do you doubt it then?" he asked.

The Waterbender didn't really want to talk about it even though she cared about Aang, but it was just hard sometimes to talk about Kya out loud. "I guess—I still blame myself for her death sometimes…"

Aang could tell she didn't want to talk about it, and decided not to go on, but instead he decided to give her one thought to ponder about. "You know, when I first ran away from you guys after my…incident, I stumbled upon this woman. Or I should say she found me, and took care of me. Come to find out she was a Mother too, with two kids; a boy and a girl." he said, remembering Ursa and all that she told him. "She said that they were her most treasured gifts and that in the end she had to do something in order to protect one of her children."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

Aang was about to reach for her hand, but stopped himself when he heard a sword come out of its sheath. The Monk cleared his throat, "Because I believe your Mom and her are the same; both had to choose to protect their children, in order for them to live. And the one thing that she told me was that it was the hardest decision that she did, because she would have to leave them. But she told me that _she would do it again if it meant to save one of them_. And I believe that your Mother, Kya, would say the same thing again without hesitation. She was a brave woman who loved her daughter, the last Waterbender so much; she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure you could live. I _know_ that she doesn't blame you, and that she wouldn't want you to blame yourself either."

The blue eyed girl was stunned at this new piece of information from Aang's past life, and was indeed intriguing. However, Sokka had always told her that it was never her fault, especially since she took the burden of her death. But when Aang said it, it was almost as if she was listening for the first time, and wanted to truly believe it. Katara always wondered that if she stayed in that tent, could she have prevented her death somehow, or stopped Yon Rha. It wasn't easy always wondering what could have happened, but then again, a lot of things would have changed for her; she would have never met all of her friends who had become like family to her, or to have been able to find the Avatar and fall in love with him. Now, she couldn't imagine living in a world without him. So many good things happened to her, but would she trade it _all_ away if it meant getting her Mother back again? Would Kya want that, or ask would she ask her to let go of the past? Katara didn't know why she was thinking about this, but every once in a while, these questions would come to her head and she would always wonder.

The Waterbender was about to ask Aang who this woman was, but Zuko spoke up. "Looks like we finally made it the shores of the Earth Kingdom, seems like it's been an eternity since I've seen this much green."

Everyone looked over to where Appa's head was, and became very happy to see land again. They had all loved the Bison very much and had gotten used to flying, but they couldn't handle it like Aang could.

"Hmm," Sokka said with his right hand under his chin, like he was pondering on something. "According to this map, we are still about forty miles to the forest that you want to go to. Is there a specific reason you wan to go there Aang?"

"It's been a long time since I've been in an actual Spiritual place, and it would just be nice to make a pit stop there. Plus, I know everyone is getting irritated of each other, and there's no doubt that Appa is tired too; since he flew all night and today."

"I don't know how you do it, but I will never, ever go back into the Spirit World!" Sokka proclaimed while he remembered Katara telling him that he was in there for twenty-four hours. Unfortunately for him, he didn't remember a thing that happened once he was kidnapped.

Suki was surprised at this accusation, "Wait, you went into the Spirit World? That must have been amazing!"

"You wouldn't think so if you found out that they have bathroom there! What kind of a 'world' doesn't have bathrooms?"

Aang just rolled his eyes at Sokka, who continued to ramble on and on about it until they finally hit the shores. They all decided to walk out their soar muscles, and hopefully it would give Appa time to relax for a bit. Even thought the Monk knew that his Bison wasn't tired he didn't want to make him do too much, even though he was very strong young Spirit Guide. Aang had figured out that as he got stronger, so did Appa; he weighed about fourteen tons now, but it was because he had grown too just like the Airbender did as well. He wasn't too sure if it was because of their special bond together, but right now it was perfect timing for him to grow some more.

The Airbender jumped off from Appa, as the others followed his lead and began to walk east into the beautiful forest. The Bison had decided to stay behind, as he just rolled in the ocean; cooling off his hot fur quickly. Aang knew that his new fur was about to come in, and that it was going to be a pain to do it for whoever would win the bet. It still concerned him, because everyone voted on what Sokka was going to do to him once he told her brother about Katara and him being back together.

Zuko and Sokka lead the group while others; Katara, Suki, Mai, Toph, who made it easy for Teo to follow, and then Aang behind them. The gray eyed Avatar decided to stay back, just in case something happened. Everyone seemed pretty happy to get off of the saddle, especially Toph who kept talking about seeing once again. And after a few hours of everyone talking and walking, the Monk suddenly felt a sense of warmth coming into his _own_ spirit. The Airbender knew that they were getting close, because he was feeling a greater connection with everything around him. They walked for about another hour, until they had at long last reached a plain of just grass that was growing; with miles of just nothing but green and trees on the outskirts, but there was still no animals running around in this area still though. Aang knew what the Firebender's did to this place, but he was happy to see it growing instead of looking like ashes. It would still take about ten years for them to grow tall, but to see that nature could still take it's course even after all that had happened, it was just wonderful. Then everyone stopped, as they all looked back to Aang to lead the way. But he didn't want to, so he just pointed to the right, and they were on their way once again. His Gang was starting to get tired now, and began sweating from the head of the forest, but none complained surprisingly.

From behind, Aang could see the giant wooden Panda Bear that was surrounded by twelve baby cubs, and a patch of soft green grass underneath them all. The Airbender smiled at how much progress this forest had made, but it still saddened him that he couldn't make things grow faster. But Guru Pathik taught him that if he tried to speed up nature, then it would wither and die; because it needs to do it on its own.

While everyone else set up camp outside of the animal circle, and Momo and Appa were flying freely in the sky, Aang set his stuff to the side and began walking towards the giant Panda. Almost two years ago he stood at about the Panda's stomach, and now his head could stand next to it's shoulders. The fourteen year old knew that he had grown a lot, but in a way, he never truly realized just how tall he had gotten. Aang looked up at the clear skies above him, and just smiled as he could feel the presence of the Spirits around him. In a way, it was a breath of fresh air to feel that whenever you did die, your work in the next world would continue on.

"Do you want something to eat, before you go into the 'Spirit World'?" Katara asked Aang's back that was facing her now. The Waterbender was becoming more and more concerned about him once she learned that their greatest enemies Spirit became apart of him. She was happy that he had come clean about his lies, and that she told him about Higen, but there was still a lot of fear that she had for him. It wasn't what Aang was going through, but a matter of knowing if he can go into the Avatar State or not.

The Air Nomad just smiled confidently at Katara with her question, and turned to her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just need to ask a few questions, and I'll be out of there before you know it."

Katara shook her head at him, "You have always been a terrible liar Aang, so how about being honest with me again."

Aang sighed at her, when his full smile turned into a crooked one. He thought about telling her that he lied to her for two weeks, without her even realizing it was him; however, he didn't want to make things go sour between them.

"Maybe I am a bad liar, but I just need some answers. I haven't been to the Spirit World in a very long time, and I'm not sure how much longer I can function without knowing the answers I need to know. I need help, Katara."

The dark skinned girl crossed her arms, "I know you do…I just wish I could help you though."

Aang felt his stomach twist, as he desperately wanted to just hold her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay; however, with Sokka watching him and her, he couldn't do it. So he took a step towards her, and put on a happy grin for her.

"You already do Katara. Just by loving me, you have given me everything I need to live again. That right there is more than enough for me." The Monk then looked over at Sokka, who was detained with putting the tent up, and instantly he kissed Katara on her forehead, before her brother turned back around.

"I'll see you in a few hours." he said in a whisper with his right lip curling up and then winked at her. The Airbender took a step back, and then turned to face the giant wooden bear. He sat in the middle of the realm, in his meditative state as his eyes traveled up to Hei Bai's face. He began to study it's every feature, memorizing the wood, and then he saw a light beam from its mouth and then he closed his eyes; feeling the presence of every life around him, and even the evil as well.

_The next he knew, Aang was standing in a swamp, with many trees overlapping each other, and taller than any he had ever seen. He took a step in the dirty water, and began to look around. Usually, Roku would be there to talk to him instantly, but he didn't appear this time. Everything around him was quiet and it was starting to scare him, because usually he could see some Animal Spirits, but there were none at all. He continued traveling onward\, walking through the swamp that now had some fog hovering over it. _

_Finally, after walking around for what seemed like hours through trees and water, he came to a tall mountain that could easily pierce the heavens. Aang didn't know why, but he had the urge to climb it so he trusted his instinct and went for its. It was much harder to climb a mountain without any help of his airbending abilities, or any other abilities for that matter. Even though he was in the Spirit World, everything around him felt far more real, than the Earth itself. His airbending outfit began to stick on him because of the sweat that was pouring down on his face and body, even though the cold mountain air blew at him. He continued climbing up the rocky peak, slipping here and there and sometimes hanging on to dear life, because a rock would break from underneath his feet. But it was nothing compared to the snow, and the brutal winds blowing into his face. The sweat turned into glittering spheres on his body, and he wondered if this is how snowman felt during winter time. He kept on hiking up the mountain, until he saw a patch of green grass that wasn't covered in snow, and the wind wasn't blowing the grass at all. _

_He walked towards it, and as soon as he stepped into its sphere, he felt the summer's air around him; melting the ice off of his body and eyebrows. Then Aang felt the ground flip its self over his head and the next thing he knew, he was falling into through the skies and splashing into the blue ocean. When he hit the water, he swam up as fast as he could, not understanding why he was going through all of these places just so he could find someone to talk to. Once he finally gasped up for air he looked around, and saw a small island to the west of him. He swam towards it tired as ever, and his breathing was so fast that he couldn't catch it as quickly as he breathed it out. At long last, he reached the shore line and just laid there; letting the water underneath him push him farther up. He began to cough up some of the salt water that came up into his nose, which burned horribly. The Monk got up on all fours slowly, and made his soar neck look up, to find a dark skinned man sitting there with a small wooden cup in his hand._

"_I think you could use some onion and banana juice." the Guru said, looking at him and then laughed a little. _

_This made the Monk's lips curl up into a big smile, as he saw his lost friend. It had been so long since he had talked to him, and it just made him all the more happier to see the white bearded man. _

"_I think I could use some Guru Pathik. It's been a long time since I have had to drink that stuff with anyone." Aang said, and walked over towards him and sat in front of him in an Indian style. The skinny man handed him the cup, and without thinking about it, the Monk drank it instantly with no sense of taste at all. _

"_Where have you been Guru Pathik?" Aang asked desperately, "I have been trying to talk to you whenever I come here, but you never showed. Why?"_

"_Because you do not command the Spirits of this world Aang." the old man said, "You come here for guidance and questions, but only _we_ have the choice to come to you or not. You can call upon the Avatar's because they are apart of your past, and they live within you. But as for someone who isn't apart of your past, it takes more time for them to talk to you even though you are the Avatar. If there is trouble, then we will find a way to you, but not all Spirits are as carefree as I am."_

_Aang put his head down, disappointed at himself. Guru Pathik taught him better than this, and it was as if he had forgotten the real power of this world. "I'm sorry." he said, "Sometimes it's easier for me to think I can just call on you, and help me whenever I need it."_

_The Guru just smiled, "And that is exactly why we don't always come to you."_

_Aang looked up, "What do you mean?" he asked with much curiosity. _

"_If every time you came to the Spirit World to ask questions, or find out about something; you would be relying on us too much that you wouldn't trust in yourself. You would always be asking us if this is right or wrong, and what would that accomplish for you?"_

_In a way, the Avatar had never thought of it like that. Ever since his vision of the future, he had been relying heavily on the Avatar's and even the Spirits too much, that he became scared of making the wrong decision. He severely wanted to prevent that from ever happening, but it was so hard when you always thought if every choice you made led you down that pathway. Even though he hadn't been to the this world in a long time, he and Roku would talk and it would get very argumentative sometimes, because Aang refused to believe that he would kill the world and Katara in it. _

"_Is it so wrong to ask for guidance?" the Monk asked, as he looked up at his skinny friend._

"_Guidance, no." he said, "But you are staring to doubt and not trust the decisions you are making anymore. You are so conscious about the future that you forget about where you are right now. Aang, you are surrounded by people that love you, and are willing to lay their life down for you, for the greater good. But because you have worked so hard to get here, I will try and answer the questions you have brought me."_

_The Airbender nodded to him, and rubbed the back of his bald head. "Why is this world so quiet? I hardly saw a Spirit at all when I came here...it's as if they have all disappeared."_

"_There is much evil stirring in our homes Aang, and when you entered into this world, you carry that with you. They stay away from you, because they do not wish to be near it."_

"_But what about Koh?" the Airbender suggested, "Isn't he evil too?"_

"_No, Koh is merely guiding Spirit. Even though he steals your face, it was how he was created. When Avatar Kuruk neglected his job as the Avatar, and was about to marry her, he stole Ummi's face as punishment to him."_

"_You are taking his side?" Aang yelled in an appalling way._

"_No. I do not agree with what he did, but sometimes Spirits see things better than any of mere humans or even the Avatar can...we are getting off subject my young friend. The Spirit's stay away from you, because they fear you. They fear what you will become."_

_Aang looked down at his hands, and felt alone once again. He closed his eyes, but didn't look up when he asked, "Then why did you come?"_

"_Well I had to drink onion and banana juice with someone!" the Guru laughed, which made Aang lips curl, but just as quickly, it disappeared. "It's because they don't know you like I know you. I spent almost two years with you, and I have seen you grow; harnessing the evil spirit within you, and to see that you are still full of so much love."_

_The Airbender opened his eyes to his friend, and realized that they were no longer on the Small Island, but sitting on top of clouds this time. He ran his fingers through the fluff, but it didn't even move because his hands were still light blue. _

_Aang changed the subject, "You say you have trained my body enough, that if I was unconscious, my heart and mind would take over _if_ I allowed it. Is there a way not to let it happen?"_

"_If someone was able to block memories from your mind, then it is very well possible."_

"_Can Ozai do that?" he asked in fear, and wondered if he could remember all that had happened to him within the last three years. But he was able to recall everything, even things from the Spirit World, and it made him relax a little. _

"_No he cannot do that. Memories are permanent, but other things can block it too."_

"_You mean like a Mindbender, or something?"_

"_Not necessarily. If something were to happen to you, and it was so traumatic your mind will take over the body in order for it to protect you. Which means, it can also block the past as well; to what point, I have no idea? But you have a sharp mind young Avatar, so I wouldn't become too nervous about that." _

_Aang moved his head up and down, wondering if it could be possible to happen to him. He easily dismissed it, and asked the most important question, "Can I go into the Avatar State…?"_

_Guru Pathik placed his right hand on his long white beard, and began to stroke it for a few seconds as if he was thinking about the right answer. "There was a reason I never taught you this Aang, and it was because you could, but you would never be the same. Avatar Roku told you once that you are at your most powerful when you are in the Avatar State, but you are also at your most vulnerable. Even though you have mastered it, the Demon in you will feel its power too…and he may never back down; just as you would use all of the powers of your past lives, so too will Ozai use it."_

"_But he isn't a past life! How can he do that?"_

"_Because he is apart of you…whether you like it or not Aang, he lives inside of you. Yes, you have done well in fighting against him, but every time he attacks you, it gets harder and harder each time."_

_The Monk was starting to panic, "Well—you can tell me what do to! I mean you told me it would take up to five or ten years to get him out of me, so how can I do it?"_

_The old man shook his head even slower, "Without the proper teacher, no one can show you what to do or how to do it."_

"_Then who can I depend on?"_

_This however made the Guru smile, "Trust yourself and your friends. I have watched them, and I can see why they were chosen to be apart of your life. Destiny has a funny way of showing its self, but it's what we do with it that makes us who we are. I have faith in you Aang and I know your friends, as well as Katara believe in you. You have the ability to find the answers on your own, without someone like me to help you."_

"_But they can't teach me! I need someone like you!" Aang yelled, "Is there no one else that can tell me what to do?" Suddenly, the white clouds under them began to darken, and it became a little bit chillier for the Airbender now. "_Did I do that?_" he asked himself. _

_And then another idea came to him, "Can this woman's voice help me?"_

_Guru Pathik looked up at him confused for the first time, "What woman's voice?"_

"_I don't know…but she has helped me out of some hard situations when it came to the evil inside of me. Can she help me, or not?" he asked urgently, as the storm clouds started to boom thunder around them. _

"_It's not my place to say if this, _woman_, will or won't. She must be a Spirit trying to help you, but not even I know who it is."_

"_I have to find her then! She might be able to help me!" Aang bellowed out loud to his friend, and was about to get up, but the Guru put his hands on the Monks shoulders._

"_If this is true then Aang, _she_ will come to you. Until then, you will never find her; no matter how hard you try…however, one Spirit might be willing to help you…"_

_Finally there seemed to be a bit of luck on his side for once, "Who? Who else can show me how to be rid of him?"_

_Guru Pathik sighed, "He goes by many faces Aang, but you know him as Koh."_

_The Airbender stood up this time, not allowing the Guru to hold him down. He put his hands over his head, and then traced it over his eyes. He removed his hands, and found that he was standing back in the swamp, while Guru Pathik floated over in his same meditative state. _

_Aang turned back around to face him, and changed the subject once again. "You say that you know the ways of the world, so can you tell me where the Rebellion is?"_

_The tan man shook his head silently, "Again, I cannot tell you this. _You_ need to find them, and not depend on me to point you in every direction. Trust yourself and your friend's wisdom, sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves…" and that was when he started to disappear. _

_The Monk ran to him, splashing water all over himself again, "But what if I have more questions for you? I still need your help with Ozai!"_

_But he just smiled underneath his white beard, and still fading slowly. "Keep training, stay connected with love, and be the child. Only you have the power to change your destiny."_

"_I know my destiny, and it involves _Me_ burning the world to the ground and killing my friends! How do I stop it?" the Avatar yelled at the nothingness in front of him. He turned around to see if he was maybe behind him, but he only found more tunnels of light and fog still hovering over the stillness of the world. Suddenly, as if hand got a hold of his ankles, Aang was sucked into the dark mysterious waters, and felt his body falling down to the _real_ world through the storm clouds, and then landing back into his human form._

He breathed in and out of his nose before he opened his eyes slowly to the surroundings around him. Aang looked up at Hei Bai, and respectably bowed his head towards his friend; wishing he could have spent some time with him, but he understood his reasoning now. The Airbender's clothes were all soaked from the rain ran that easily off of his bald head, and down to his chin. He loved the feel of rain pouring over his body, as if it was trying to wash all of his troubles away.

"See?" Katara roared at Sokka, from Aang's left. "This is what you get for not putting the tarp up in the first place!"

Her brother for some reason was covered in mud, in which Aang honestly didn't want to know what happened.

"Oh don't give me that Katara!" he yelled back at her, "It's still the dry season, and it just so happens to rain today, it's not that bad anyways…I think it's about to stop anyways!" Sokka said with more confidence in himself, but the rain came down even heavier on them and then the size of a small ball of ice hit him hard on the head.

"Ahh!" he yelled into the skies, and rubbing the spot where it had hit.

Aang's right lip curled up a little; remembering the last time he encountered Katara and Sokka at each other necks._ "Har_s_h words won't solve problems, actions will."_ he thought to himself, wishing that he could go back to those normal days when his only problem was to defeat Ozai…ironically, he never truly did it in the first place, since he still lived in him. Finally he stood up out of the mud and began walking towards the five tents that were set up. Appa was sleeping on his side, while holding his tail with all six of legs and enjoying the rain, while Momo snuck into Katara's tent. He felt a little weak, and it didn't help that he was famished from being in there for a few hours. Aang really wasn't sure if his journey to the Spirit World was truly worth it or not, because he still had so many questions…he hoped Roku could help him out somehow.

The Airbender thought about talking to the former Avatar right now, but he was exhausted and it didn't help that he had to actually work his way through the Spirit World just to find someone to talk to him. Aang was happy that it was Guru Pathik though, but he still felt like he didn't help him enough because time just flied past them; "_Maybe I am depending on them too much._" the Avatar thought to himself, "_But how can I find a group that disappears or dies before interrogation?" _He moved a piece of the tents entrance, and walked in to find his glider to the right and his pack underneath it. A small bed was already laid out for him, and he knew that only one person would do that for him which brought a grin a on his face. The Airbender was happy that he packed a few more things of the same clothes, just in case something ever happened to the clothes he was wearing. He knew that he could easily airbend the mud and water off, but sometimes it felt nice to act like someone without special abilities.

Aang stripped off his pants as well as his red and orange airbending clothes, leaving him in only his swim trunks. His body was still hot, and it felt wonderful for him just to walk around in nothing almost. It helped cool him off faster, but his stress level wasn't helping him any. He didn't know what to do next, where to go, or who to see? He wanted to desperately talk to Roku, but he was tired of dealing with Spirits for one day; especially when no one seemed to help him any. He did however, learn that he could go into the Avatar State, but he would never somehow be the same. Would he risk the chance if his friends were in trouble, or if he ever was? What if there was another situation like Old Man Ding's, where the only option left was to go into the Avatar State?

"_What did he mean that _I_ would never be the same?"_ the confused Airbender thought, but his thought process was soon interrupted when he heard the fabric of the cream colored entrance move. Without a thought, Aang turned around and got into a fighting stance, as if he was about to take down off one of the Rebellions. However, it just turned out to be a beautiful Waterbender, whose cheeks were turning red as she just looked at the Airbender and holding a plate of fruit in her hands. He looked at her and slightly leaned his head to the right, and wondering why she seemed a little embarrassed to see him right now. Then his eyes followed back down to his almost naked body, and realized why she was.

"Umm—Katara, I ugh…" was all that the Airbender could get out, while he savaged through his bag looking for some pants at least to cover his lower half. But it seemed like they were hidden somewhere, and it was making him even more nervous and clumsy.

Katara turned around to face the entrance of the tent, while the blood in her cheeks were boiling now. She didn't know why her body reacted this way, especially when she had seen him in his trunks a hundred times, but it was different this time. Her mind was now thinking of everything she just saw, from his chiseled chest to his six pack, and Aang at long last caught on before she looked past his waist. Luckily, Aang couldn't see the smile that was forming on her face as her mind played back the last few seconds of what she saw; in a way it was torturing to her. She could hear the sound of clothing scraping against skin, and the next thing she heard was the sound of one foot hopping, and a loud thump on the ground. Katara held back her laugh, because without looking she knew that he had fallen to the floor by trying to put his pants on too quickly.

The Monk quickly put his pants on; since he was already on the ground he figured it would be safer to just stay there. Once he put them on, he got right back up, and thought about putting his shirt on, but dismissed it since it would take more time to do it. Aang composed himself a little more, and then put his right hand on Katara's left shoulder and turned her around. The Waterbender tightened her jaw line a little, as she looked at him with only his pants on now, and nothing else.

The Airbender rubbed his bald head, feeling a little embarrassed too. "Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting you or anyone to come in."

Katara grinned at him, and moved a piece of hair behind her right ear. "I figured you might be hungry." she said, handing him the bowl of mixed fruit, "Especially since you were in there for a whole day."

Aang gave her a surprising look, "A WHOLE DAY?" he said, and took the bowl from her and began to eat with much enthusiasm at the idea of food.

"Yeah. You were focusing so much, that you kind of started to sweat a lot." she said.

Before the Airbender knew it, he had devoured the last bit of fruit, and drank the juice that was sitting there in the middle of it. "Well, it seems it was a bit more difficult to find someone to talk to."

Aang had agreed to tell her the truth from now on, but the only thing he never told her was that he would be the one to destroy the world. He didn't want to let that happen and that was why he didn't tell her that part of the story. The bald Monk let her in on everything that went on in the Spirit World, from seeing no one there, to being with Guru Pathik once again. They were both sitting on the floor now, as he finally finished his story. He felt so tired, but he didn't mind staying up and talking to Katara.

The Waterbender began to study his face, still seeing the purple bags under his eyes due to the amount of sleep he was having. Whenever she heard him saying her name in the middle of the night, she would go over to him, and use her healing abilities to help calm his mind; just like what she did with Jet, when his memories were too painful for him. But Aang's was different somehow, because it would come back again and again throughout the night. She too was losing sleep, but she just wanted to help him sleep better; which she thought would have worked now that they were together, but maybe there was something more that caused him to have waking nightmares.

"So what is next then?" Katara asked, since he led them here, she thought that he must have a plan.

The Airbender sighed heavily, "That's just it…I don't know. The Spirits know where the Rebels are hiding, but they aren't willing to help me. Guru Pathik believes that I can find them on my own, but I don't know where to look! I don't know what to do anymore…" he whispered the last sentence and looked away, like he had just broken something of great value and feared the punishment.

Katara hated seeing Aang like this. It made it seem like he was still trying to take on the world by himself again, without any hint of help. He had been on his own for so long with the Guru, that he seemed to have learned to trust himself more, and now he didn't. Guru Pathik was right though; he doubted himself so much that he no longer trusted his instincts or the Avatar's within him.

She put her hand on top of Aang's, which caused him to look at it now, and then looked up into her blue eyes. "Everything is going to be okay Aang. From what Sokka said, we are near Haru's Village just south of here. Maybe we can find some stuff there that can help us."

The Airbender barely smiled at her, knowing full and well that she wasn't going to give up on him that easily. He nodded slowly, "Well it would be nice to see a familiar face again, and maybe his father has heard about the Rebellions too. I think it might be a great idea to go visit him."

This made the Waterbender grin at him, "There's the hopeful boy I remember."

Aang laughed a little, "Actually, I do have a question to ask you concerning Haru." Katara looked at him strangely, but gave him permission to ask. "If we went back in time, and there was no war and no reason for you to help me…would you have stayed with him anyways?"

Katara was very shocked at the way he asked that question, almost as if he knew that she kind of had a small crush on him, but it was nothing more than that. She removed her hand from his, and got up standing over him now. "Why would you ask me that?"

The Monk followed her lead and stood up to, and placed his hands in his pocket; forgetting that the Guru's letter and Katara's necklace were in the other pair of pants he just took off. He looked straight down into her face and said, "Katara I'm not trying to get in a fight with you, or anything like that, but…I guess I just wonder if I meant anything to you back then? Would you still have traveled with me if I wasn't the Avatar, and just a normal kid?"

The dark skinned girl could tell that he had thought about this a lot, and it was even possible that he had wondered about it when she told Haru that she had to help Aang get to the Northern Water Tribe. A part of her believed that she would have stayed to help fight the Fire Nation with Haru, but even back then, she had become attached to Aang. Katara still didn't really know when she started to like Aang, because everything with them was so natural that it never occurred to her that she had feelings for him. She then grabbed the Monk and hugged him tightly, feeling one of his scars on his chest pressing against her soft left cheek. Aang was a little surprised at the hug, especially since he didn't have a shirt on, but he wrapped his arms around her and rocked her slowly.

"Aang, there was a part of me that would have wanted to stay. But even after just a few weeks of being with you, I had grown very fond of you. Everyday you surprised me, and after meeting you, I knew I could find no one as special as you." she whispered to him, with her eyes closed still.

The Airbender let air go out of his nose, "Because I was the Avatar…"

Katara shook her head against him, "No. It's because no one was able to bring me back to life after my mother died, and after finding you—you changed me. You let me go penguin sledding with you, you made me laugh, and most importantly, you helped me discover who I Am." she declared, and pushed away from him a little to looked up at his face. She didn't mean to tear up, but she couldn't help it. Aang changed her in ways that he may never understand, and even back then when she only liked him as a friend, there was a bond that was far more powerful than she had felt with any of the other boys she had a crush on.

"Aang you brought me back to life again, you showed me that it was okay to be a kid again. I don't think I would have had the strength to leave you, even if you weren't the Avatar." she smiled, with a tear escaping on her right cheek. The bald Monk smiled one of Katara's favorite smiles, and it sent chills down her back. He placed his left hand on her face, and wiped the tear away with his thumb while his other hand was under her hair in the middle of her back.

"Guess I wasn't the only one who was changed that day when you found me. However, if I knew then what I knew now, I would have done something a bit more different when you first saw me."

"Like what?" she asked with much curiosity as to what he meant, but understood it when he started to lean down towards her.

"Well," he breathed on her cool skin, sending electricity through her. "When I asked to you come closer, I would have kissed you instead of asking you to go penguin sledding with me." he laughed quietly, still leaning down to her.

"Mmm, so what's stopping you from doing it _now_?" she whispered back to him, but then they both heard a person clearing their throat, which caused the couple at the front entrance and see Suki there with her arms crossed without Sokka there. This relieved Aang a little, especially since he was running out of time to tell her brother that they were together, but he was still pretty afraid of him right now. Aang would rather face Ozai again, than to deal with an over protective brother.

The Airbender licked his lips, and let go of Katara regrettably as she turned her body to face the auburn haired girl. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I figured you would rather have me come in instead of Sokka. He wants to call a meeting to figure out where we want to go next, and since you are the only two missing, I thought that I could warn you ahead of time before he came in here himself." she said and then walked out into the night sky, with no more rain pouring down.

"You know that you need to tell Sokka." she said looking up at him again. It was getting harder for her to not want to constantly be around Aang, to hold his hand, or kiss him anytime she wanted to in front of her brother. But she could tell that he was suffering just as much as she was, if not more.

"I will. I promise…it's just I want to tell him when he is having a good day." he said, with his hands on his hips now.

This made the Waterbender laugh, "Catching Sokka on a good day, is like saying that his karma is going to be good from now on."

This too made Aang laughed as he recalled a lot of things that that happened to him; first it was Appa sneezing snot all over him when they brought him out of the ice, then it was the Pentapus's or 'Suckers' as he would call them, the time he got stuck in a crack of the earth while a Saber-Tooth-Baby-Moose-Lion cub tried to help him out, or when he kicked rocks at some Turkey Ducks at Aunt Wu's village and they attacked him. There were a lot more memories of him getting into some kind of trouble, and Katara was right about that. He actually was planning on telling him tomorrow, no matter what happened. He couldn't take it anymore; it was like trying to stop a man who had been in the desert for a week, and then not allowing him to drink the water that sat right in front of him.

"You have a point, but I will tell him. Don't worry." he promised her with a warm smile.

Katara nodded at his smile, which made her lips form into a grin too. She then turned and was about to walk out, but a hand caught her and twisted her around. Next thing she knew, she felt warm lips pressing on hers, and it made her hungry for more. She wrapped her arm around his neck, while he pulled her closer to him and continued to make out with each other until they couldn't breathe anymore. Every time one of them took a breath, the other seemed to attack their pathway for more air. And as hard as it was for Katara, she smile, and kissed him one more time and pushed away from him.

"Last thing we need is Sokka finding out about this, right?" she said playfully, hoping it would change his mind and he would tell her brother about it now.

Aang was panting hard, "You know that's not fair to use that against me. Do you enjoy torturing me?"

"Hey now! _You_ were the one who wanted to tell Sokka about us, instead of me. _And_ you were the one who pulled me in for a kiss you little Air Head!" she winked at him, breathing hard too. "Don't be late." Katara said, and left while trying to straighten out her hair before she got into the tent next to his.

"Hoo." Aang breathed out, licking his lips and still tasting Katara's sweetness on him. He shook his head to clear his mind, and went after his other airbending clothes. The Monk put them on and followed in Katara's footsteps to Sokka and Suki's tent that was all wet on inside now. Everyone was standing up, with a map that was over laid out over their beds in the middle of the circle.

"Well it's about time!" Sokka said, "I sent Katara for you an hour ago, and you walk in here with a big smile on your face."

Aang gave him a crooked smile and just shrugged, "I happened to have some _very_ good fruit that she gave me, and I guess it did the trick." He looked over at Katara, who was trying to hide her smile, and looked away quickly.

"Whatever." Sokka grunted, "Please tell me that you have some information on the Rebels from the Spirit World."

The Monk shook his head, and decided not to tell them everything. "No, they couldn't. Guru Pathik told me that I needed to them on my own, because I have been depending on them too much lately."

Toph spit to the side, "So you telling me those stupid glow in the dark old guys didn't give you the low down on where these twisted up evil dweebs are; who have nothing else better to do I might add, just because they think you are depending on them too much?"

"Umm… well when you put it that way, yeah." was all that Aang could say.

"Well so much for using the bridge between our world and the next! Sounds like they just blew that bridge up a long time ago Twinkle Toes; so what's plan B?" she asked Aang.

"Well, Katara said something about Sokka telling her that we are near Haru's Village, and I think it's a good idea to visit them." he said towards Katara's brother, and he nodded back.

"I agree. It would be a good place to get some information, especially if his dad is helping out any with the Earth King. Plus, I think we need to restock on a few things, and it looks like about only a day and a half's ride on Appa."

Zuko decided to step in as well, "Well before we do that, we need to make a pit stop about half way. I need to send 'hawkie' back to my Uncle, and make sure all is well. There should be a tower here," he bent down, and pointed at the map on the ground. "we have put up more communication towers since the peace of the four Nations, so hopefully we can do it very quickly."

"I agree." Aang said, "Our first priority is finding the Rebellion, but we should tell Iroh, as well as the other Kings what we have found in our travels these past weeks."

Everyone nodded with him too, especially since they seemed to be stealing only people who have bending abilities; including children as well. Zuko still seemed concerned about his father and sister being locked away without him being there, but he knew that he could trust his Uncle Iroh. However, he still seemed worried about them, since these people in the Rebellion were more Fire Nation, then that would mean that they were still loyal to Azula and his father.

"Then we should leave in the morning. Last thing we need is to get delayed, in which _something_ always seems to happen to us anyways." Sokka said, while rolling up his map and making Zuko stand back up. "We should all get some rest; my gut is telling me something bad is going to happen and we are going to need our strength."

And with that said, they all wished each other good night and walked back into their tents. Aang had a tough time sleeping like always, but it wasn't as bad as it usually was. Somehow, his dreams seemed to calm down for a little bit and then pick right back up from where he left off. He desperately wished he could see a vision again, hoping that maybe he had perhaps somehow changed it, but nothing ever did happen. The Monk thought about possibilities of getting him out of his body, and nothing came to mind. Unfortunately, his only choice was to go and see Koh 'The Face Stealer' if he was going to succeed. He still feared this Spirit, but it may be his only option if it ever came down to it.

OooooOooooOoooo

Sokka was right; it did take them about a day and a half to get to Haru's Village; including walking some of the way, resting, and allowing Zuko to send a Hawkie back to the Fire Nation capitol with news. The Monk guided his Bison to the middle of the town, but all was quiet as always. Aang airbended off of his friend with his staff in hand, and the others followed their leader as they landed softly on the ground. When Toph jumped off, she landed hard so as to send out a mass vibration of their surroundings. Everyone watched her, and she nodded once to let them know that people were there indeed. The Gang began to walk in the ghost like town, with much precaution. Aang decided to stay out in front of the group for their protection, just in case something was about to go down.

The houses weren't at all abandoned like Shing's home, but there was no one in them either. There was still smoke coming out of some of the homes, and when they checked out the fires, they were all barely burning. Aang thought about splitting up again, but if the Rebellion was still here, then their best strategy would be strength in numbers. The food was still fresh and there were no spider flies on the hanging meat which was weird since they were attracted to the smell of dead animals. Sokka noticed this too, and went over towards the large left thigh of a Cow Hippo and examined it carefully. He ran his index finger on the gooey blood and placed it in his mouth, eager to spit it out after a second.

"Poision." he said to the other in a normal voice that wasn't too high or too low. "Everyone watch each others backs."

The Gang got into their buddy groups, just as they did at Shing's home, while Aang walked alone. They continued walking in and out of houses, with the sun held high in the air. It was extremely hot that day, and the idea of water just sounded too good. However, if the meat was poisoned, then there was a higher risk that the water was too and they all knew it too. Aang's grip on his staff was getting tight and tighter as he twisted his hands on the smooth wood, while his adrenaline kept him on high alert. He was very happy that he had cut his hair now, because it had become a pain to him when it would stick on his face; now he felt so carefree without it to bug him. The Monk looked back behind him to make sure that his friends were all okay, but when he did, they only thing that he saw was the wind carrying dirt into the air.

"Sokka…Katara…Toph…where are you—" he said while walking back, and then his mind told him to do a high spin kick. And without a seconds thought, he trusted his instincts and shattered the rock that was heading straight for his head. "AHH!" was the next word he heard on top of the roof of men and women jumping down to fight Aang. They all wore green Earth Kingdom clothing, but the Airbender didn't know if it was a trick or not so he got ready to fight.

Three men attacked him with rocks being thrown at his body, which Aang blocked easily by spinning through the air in between the three rocks and dodging them. The Monk then twisted an air of circle in his hands, and sent it bowling towards them. One fell but the other two, jumped up on the walls of a house and ran up it to the top of the roof. Suddenly, the ground under his feet popped him high into the air, while four warriors waited for him to land. But the Airbender did a head dive to gain speed, and then flipped himself so he could land on his feet and sent the end of his staff into the ground hard. The four Earthbenders went into the houses, and even breaking into them. And before he could celebrate his victory, he was surrounded in a circle of men and women who all held rocks in the air. Aang looked around by using his peripheral vision, and had another idea that he remembered Toph did one time when she fought against six guys plus Xin Fu. He waited for them to make their next move, looking at them in the eyes until he saw a hint of attack. One mans fingers moved, and that was when he knew it would start. The young boy sent a rock at him, as did the others, and Aang jumped a little into the air, and twisted his feet into the ground.

Luckily he timed it perfectly, because the rocks could have easily crushed his body, but it was well worth the risk with the dust forming. He heard people began to cough, and it gave him the opportunity to get out slim man hole he made, and looked around at the cover that was just made. The Avatar closed his eyes, and took one step and sent vibrations out to them; two of them ran into each other and began to fight one another, four were rubbing their eyes from the dust, while six more of them began to clear away the dirt in the air. Instantly, Aang ran to those men, grabbing water from the air just as Katara had taught him, and whacked one of them in the face so hard that it sent him to the through some small markets of wood. He sent it at a dark haired man and froze his body to the wall; and then froze the water onto the ground, causing the other to men to walk onto it and go sliding into each others bodies.

Without a seconds thought, Aang did a high back flip, while making deep holes for two Earthbenders to step into. Once he landed on his feet, he began to twirl his staff in his hands to suck up all of the dirt around him, and then shot it back at the remaining troops. He heard people crashing into one another, and breaking more houses and markets along the way. Once the cloud cleared up, he looked up to the houses, and saw about another one hundred on rooftops, and another twenty coming out of four alley ways. Two others saw him, and ran towards him as fast as they could.

The Monk smiled to them, but two others grabbed hold of his arms and knocking his staff in front of his feet. Aang kicked his staff into the two women running straight at him, and then he twisted his arm around the toned men's limbs, and allowed him to have enough momentum to flip back. Once on his feet hit the floor, the staff had bounced off the women and into the young soldiers heads, sending his staff into the air. He jumped up and caught it easily, and then landed on a younger man shoulders; sending him straight into the ground with his head remaining top sided.

Aang was sweating like crazy as he looked up to the other warriors he was about to face, and prepared himself to attack once again even though he was outnumbered. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he hoped that it would work against them all. The Avatar got into a position where he had left leg stretched out and the other that he depended on to hold his weight. He held the staff with both of his hands, while his gliders ends pointed north and south. Aang was breathing hard, and waiting for them to attack him as their enemy.

"That's enough!" a grown mans deep voice ordered from the shadows of the alley way in front of Aang, and instantly all of the rocks that the other Earthbenders had fell to the ground quickly.

The tattooed boy stood up, with his staff in hand still as he looked up at the giant man before him. When he stepped out of the shadows, he had a bald head, but with white hair on the sides that was connected to a long beard. He seemed very weary and older, but his green eyes showed the story of a man who lost everything, and still fought back with every breath in him. He wore the same warrior's outfit that was from the day of black sun, with his head held high in a prideful manner. However, one thing that was different about him was that he was extremely pail and looked at if he was about to vomit. In fact, now that Aang took notice all of the warriors in the village, they all had that same look

"It's good to see that Katara has taught you to have courage in the face of death Avatar Aang, and to have imagination when fighting against people who outnumber you easily." Tyro said, which caused his body and his troops to relax at the realization of who this person was.

The bald Monk relaxed too a bit, and stood up tall to Haru's father. "It's something we all need in this day and age, and I believe Earthbenders know what it's like being outnumbered ten to one." Aang said, remembering Katara telling him that Tyro fighting until he had won.

Tyro walked over to him, but kept his distance from him like he was cursed with something. "Your timing seems to be of late Aang, but perhaps you can help us out with a matter at hand."

But before Aang could respond, he heard an Angel's harmonic voice say his name as she ran towards him. Tyro stepped out of the eager Waterbender's way, as she threw herself at the tattooed boy and easily caught her. His grip tightened up on her as he breathed in the pink carnation flower that flowed through her hair, and happy to see that she was okay.

"I'm glad t see that you didn't get hurt." she whispered in his ear, in which caused him to laugh to himself and squeeze her into a tighter hug before he let go of her. The rest of the Gang emerged from the shadows, and tried to not touch the other men and women around them.

"What's going on Tyro?" Aang asked, afraid for his Haru and his father.

The man sighed heavily, "Please, walk with me." he urged Aang only, while the others strayed behind listening. They traveled through the crowd, each of them stepping out of harms way so as to not get anyone sick.

"About two weeks ago, my people and I were attacked by shadows of the night. We had heard from our King that we should be prepared in the nights, but we weren't. They came swiftly and carefully that night. They grabbed me and my son, Haru, in which we fought back….but—" he paused for a second, and wiped his tear away. "they took him right from under my nose Aang. I was about to run after them, but they threw some kind of white powder at and the next thing I remember is waking up on the grass with my fellow men here. Whatever it was, the powder is causing death to my people."

Aang's eyes got big when then looked around him to see that his people were dying slow deaths. Their bodies were covered with swellings, burned marks, and some even had boils beginning to form. He heard one of them coughing, to only see that blood fell from their mouths. He looked back up at Tyro who was trying to be a strong leader, but the sickness was getting to him too.

He continued, "We have learned that it is not contagious, but we still try to keep distance just in case. I have had over fifty deaths, with more on the way, and you are the _only_ person who can save us Avatar Aang."

The Monk stopped dead in his tracks, "Me?"

Tyro nodded when he saw him not walking next to him anymore, "Before the siege was over with, we were able to catch one of these men who came to capture us. We stopped him before he tried to kill himself, and we have been interrogating him for some time."

Zuko spoke up, "Interrogating? You mean that he's still alive?"

The sick man nodded, "Yes. Unfortunately, no matter how much we threatened, or tortured him, he told us that he would only talk to a young boy with blue tattoos." He looked over at Aang, "I never thought it would be you, but you have been the only one that has come through this village…"

This frightened the Airbender a lot, when he realized that he may be the only hope that is left to these people. Aang had been in tough situations with towns and villages, but the balance of life or death rested with him in the next couple of days. This man seemed to know who he was, and what made it even worse was that they might have been watching him for quite some time now. The tattooed boy looked at his friends who seemed to show just as much fear as he showed, and he knew they would want him to try and save them.

Aang looked up to Haru's father, "What must I do?"

The Father sighed in relief and said; "Come with me." and each of them all followed him in a quick walk. They walked through more crowds of people, begging Aang to help them all. Some asked him to heal their babies and children, while others screamed for him to find their sons and daughters, and the rest told him to kill the man who did this to them. Tyro led them to a high hill, with three men standing on top of it while six torches surrounded them. By the time they got to the top, there was a hole deep in the Earth that was about the size of his staff, but it was skinnier due to the with thorns, spiked metal, and anything else sharp that was poking out of it's sides. The hole was dark and from what he could feel, it was three miles drop and that only an Earthbender could get out of there alive.

"He waits for you." the tall man said, which made Aang turn to see him and his friends. They all feared for his life, but he had to show them that everything was going to be okay. He smiled at them, and looked at all of them saving Katara for last.

Toph took a step towards Aang, "You are going to need my help to tell if he is lying or not."

"No." Tyro said, "He will only talk to him. The last thing we need to do is compromise this man to the point of never telling us the cure, and he always seems to know who all is there."

"And how do you know that he has the cure?" Mai asked.

"Because he must. He is not infected like we are, but then again, he is _different_."

Suki tilted her head slightly, "Different how?"

Aang looked back at Tyro, who seemed to not want to tell them of why he was so different or why he was afraid of him. And the last thing the Airbender needed was more fear in his body, so he grabbed the torch from the ground and tossed it down the tunnel. Aang jumped up, and did a few front flips before his feet went chasing after the fire that was falling only a couple of hundreds feet from him. It was harder to dodge the sharp objects as they tended to cut into his shirt and skin, but luckily the scenery changed when there were no more sharp objects anywhere, but instead slippery rocks and mud.

He continued falling for a few more minutes until the torch hit the ground standing up, and Aang knew that he was about to land as he approached the light. The Monk positioned his body a little better, and then airbended himself slowly down to the ground next to the torch. He grabbed it with his left hand, and looked around the darkness. He started walking through the pitch black mud that was knee high, and feeling things swimming around his legs in which he was glad he couldn't see them. Aang finally came to a smooth whit wall that was ten feet thick, but could be opened only from an Earthbender. The gray eyed boy stomped his right foot hard onto the ground, and then the door slid up for him, and leading him into the unknown. The hot mixed air of hygiene and blood hit his smelling senses hard, but he walked through anyways with only the sound of his heart beating in his ear. Aang released the opened stone wall back into its original form; shutting himself off from the world and the cool air. He was no longer standing in mud anymore, but smoothed out rocks instead. They had torches in the dark place, but it was still too dark. After a few steps, he finally saw a man chained up by his hands and feet, just like he was when Commander Zhao had captured and imprisoned him.

There was a strange breathing sound that wasn't human, but more like someone was using a bellow to pump air into a fireplace and suck it right back in. The figure was surrounded by torches, and it made Aang wondered why he didn't use it to try and free himself if he was a Firebender. Aang continued walking slowly with his staff still in his right hand, careful not to scare him. The man's breathing continued echoing in the small space around them, but when the light finally hit the man's body; the Monks eyes got big as he stumbled backwards to the ground, and accidentally letting go of the torch. Aang's breathing had changed to panic, as he could not believe what he just saw. The scared Air Nomad stood back up slowly, with his staff tighter in his hand, and looked upon the shadow of the _figured_ man in chains once again…

**So I tried to make it seem kinda spooky, in which I hope that I kind of accomplished. So who is this mysterious man, and how did he know that Aang would come to talk to him? Hmm? **

**Okay, so you guys know what to do now. PLEASE comment/review me, because I love to read all of your opinions; good or bad. THEY INSPIRE ME!**

**So bad news as well, I have a lot of tests this week, which means I won't get to write as much as I normally would. Sorry, but college is my number one priority; however I will get started, but not sure when the next chapter will come out. I appreciate your patience with me, and I hope that you will contiue to as I keep writing about the gAang. **

**Peace and Love Avatards!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey everyone! I know I'm EXTREMELY late on my update, and I am not going to give you all the BS of things that has been going on (don't worry it's not bad). You all know I'm a full time student, got work, and working out, so I will leave it at that for you guys to understand my time limits. Thank you guys for the all of the reviews and e-mails! You have all been fantastic! I didn't get a whole lot of reviews last time, which is probably from people being in school and all, but I wasn't going to leave the rest of you guys hanging around like that ;) Also, I wanted to welcome any new fans out there, and I am glad to take you on this journey with the gAang!**

**I don't own anything of A:TLA, but maybe someday I'll send this stuff to them. Some you guys think it's TV worthy, but then again you just might be being nice to me lol. Anywho, sorry for the misspelling, grammar, repeating words, and whatever else I did wrong! :( ENJOY!**

Aang tried to control his breathing, as he inched closer to the man in chains while his right hand began to sweat on his staff. The smell of him was absolutely horrific; it reminded him of the sewer line that he went through with Katara and Sokka at Omashu. He had hoped to believe that his eyes were wrong, or that there was a trickery in the light, but there was no mistake in what he saw right then and there. The Monk brightened the fire a little bit on the torch that he held in his other hand, smelling the hygiene and mixture of blood once again. Luckily, this 'man' was able to stand up, unlike Aang when he was chained up, but the shackles were tightly bound around his ankles.

The man's face seemed a little young, perhaps not even twenty-two yet. The young teenager was completely bald on his head, just like Aang was, his face still look smooth but he had a few burn mark on him too. He also had a triangle piece of metal on his face, which covered his entire nose as well as his mouth and a third of his cheek. On both sides of the shard, there were circles about the size of Warriors medallion, which is where the breathing noise was coming from. His right eye, which was white now, had a scar that went from his eyebrow and possibly all the way down to his jaw line, but Aang couldn't tell since the shiny triangle covered some of it up. There were three long flat pieces of metals that were nail into his head, and from what the Monk could tell, his head had been opened into and the strips of metal had closed it up. Aang's light flickered off of the mans left arm; with his forearm completely covered with a thin metal that had a small opening at the wrist, which he guessed was for a long knife that could pop out since his ring finger was completely gone. He also had burn marks all over both his arms and neck, with many surgical scars on him as well. In a way, he reminded Aang of "Combustion Man", but this was so much more different in a way. His black pants were torn to shreds, with no shirt to cover up his scrawny body. The Airbender could almost see his ribs as he breathed in and out slowly. Aang could tell that he hadn't eaten since they caught him, but decided to _barely_ keep him alive.

The man had bruises all over his body, and was bleeding in areas where he had been cut recently. His arms were covered in dry brown liquid, where the evidence led up to his raw wrist from his chains. Aang traveled around to the back of his body, still examining everything he saw. There were bolts screwed into his spine, as if they were able to help him function better. But what caught his eyes was the black dragon that came out of Yin's circle, and a red tiger coming out of Yang's area; these two creatures stared into each others eyes like they were ready to kill one another. However, it still didn't make any sense as to what this tattoo meant or if this was a sign of things to come. Aang continued on examining the 'man', looking for any hints that would help him, until he got back to his face. One evil brown eye was looking straight into his gray eyes, as his strange noise of breathing continued. In a way, it felt like he had seen this person before, but never in his life had he seen a tattoo or a body like his, it was so eerie to Aang.

"It's been a long time since I have seen those tattoos Avatar Aang…" said the chained up man, with a voice sounding like he was talking through a pipe. His voice was dry and devilish as he spoke, "I knew that you would eventually find me."

The Monk tried to hide his fear behind the shadows of the flames around him, but he felt like it was making the light brighter. "And how did you know that I would find you?" he asked calmly, as if he was facing Koh all over again.

He cocked his head at Aang a little, and then leaned closer to his face while his breathing stayed the same. "You don't remember me—do you?"

The Airbender's fingers were becoming numb as he held onto his staff tightly, as his blood abruptly stopped flowing. "I think I would remember _you_, if I ever did."

The scarred up man chuckled through his masked piece of metal, "Perhaps my 'transformation' has blinded you Avatar. Tell me, are you fond of riddles?"

Aang didn't say anything to him, as his mind tried to process the good brown eye that he was looking at. The man continued, "First I'll give you something easy ones to think about;

_It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt, _

_Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, _

_Lies behind, stars and under hills,_

_And empty holes it fills, _

_Comes first follows after,_

_Ends life kills laughter_."

The tattooed arrow boy shook his head at him, "I came down here to find the cure for these people. I don't have time to play riddles with you!" he said, even though he was pretty good at them. Monk Gyatso would always give him a riddle every hour of everyday, to help sharpen his mind more. His best friend found out that Aang was very intelligent when it came to memorizing or guessing at things; Gyatso once told him that _he_ should be the one teaching other Master Airbender's, because Aang was so amazing at it. The gray eyed young teenager liked it when he had to think hard about something, or learn of something else in the world; in many ways, it helped him become the person he was today.

"_Time_?" he laughed with evil in his voice that it made Aang's spine shake. "I have nothing but time for you…after all I am chained to a wall, and if you truly want to help _your_ friends, then you will have to play along. Because the funny thing about time and death is that it makes it far more fun for me. The rules are simple, if you can guess who I am then I will tell you the cure. And if not…well a lot of people, including _your_ friends will die."

"_My_ friends?" Aang picked up on the way he said it, like he had planned something else.

"The Earth Kingdom soldiers believe that they aren't contagious, but they are seriously wrong. A single touch, sneeze, scratch, or cough and they too will have it too." he said with no emotion at all.

The Airbender thought about it quickly, wondering if his friends were alright or if he was bluffing. But the only thing he had to bluff on was the cure, and if he was telling the truth, he was going to have to play his game and fast. Unfortunately, when they first came here, the Gang was handled by Tyro's soldiers, so he had no choice. Aang instantly dropped the torch, and grabbed at his burned throat. He didn't know what came over him, but the faces of Katara and everyone else dying, fueled his wrath. The Monk could feel his pulse dying down slowly while his muscles underneath his hands flex, as he squeezed his sweaty neck tightly

"Tell me what the antidote is, now!" Aang yelled in his face, as he began to choke the life out of him. But the man didn't fight or say anything, as his brown eye began to darken and his face was turning so red that a vein was popping out on his forehead. Against everything that was fighting inside of him, Aang released his hand from his neck with a jerk. The man began to cough, as he tried to catch his breath. The Monk didn't know what came over him, but he knew that a certain Spirit enjoyed his few seconds of power over him.

"You were never the killing type Aang, and you should know that I do not fear death, in fact I welcome it…but _you_ fear the death of others more than you do yourself. Kill me, and you will never know the truth to saving them—the choice is obvious, but it's yours to make." he proclaimed once he caught his breath.

Aang tried to think of another solution, but after hearing what Tyro said about torturing him, starving him, and interrogating him he truly believed that this traitor didn't care if he did die. He was only willing to talk to him, but for what reasons he didn't know. The bald Avatar sighed to his will, and answered his riddle.

"Darkness…that's the answer." Aang said still trying to figure out the mysterious form. Once he answered the question, he could tell that the man was smiling under the mask over his mouth.

"Good, very good. Now, how about his one;

_Feed me, and I live, _

_Give me drink and I die. _

_What am I?_"

Without hesitation, Aang answered "Fire."

The man beckoned him,

"_When you went into the woods you got me, _

_You hated me yet you wanted to find me, _

_You went home with me because you couldn't find me,_

_What am I?_"

The Monk thought about it for a second and said, "A splinter. You can't ever find it, even though it hurts, so you have to take it home with you."

"They said that you were quite smart, but let's see if you are as good as they said.

_I am Gentle enough to soothe the skin, _

_Light enough to caress the sky, _

_But Hard enough to crack rocks_."

This made Aang smile a bit, as it turned out, this was exactly who Katara was. "Water."

Quickly, he attacked him with something else.

"_Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last, _

_Lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights—_

_A city in the twilight, dim and vast, with smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights_."

The Airbender thought for a few minutes, and declared "The past. It is something we all have."

They continued on with more and more riddles for the next few hours. The other answers that he said had to deal with darkness, swords, memories, fighter, a wheat straw, and even death. They were all a bunch of random things, and he didn't quite understand why he thought that these riddles would be so hard to him.

"Now," he began, "you have answered all, but one riddle…who am I?"

For the first time since Aang could remember, he moved his weight a little off of his legs; which felt so amazing to do. And for once, he couldn't answer the riddle. _"Who am I_?" he thought to himself, as he tried to decipher that small sentence. Every one of his riddles had a clue in it, except for this one. He _wanted _Aang to figure out who he was, but he still didn't know. He only answered riddles, and now he didn't have an answer.

"That is not a riddle I can solve. That is like asking me how many fingers you are holding up in the dark. You cheated me!" Aang said bitterly, as he tried very hard to hold back his rage building up. He was running out of time, and if his friends were in danger now too.

Again, the chained up man smiled. "I suppose that the Airbender's didn't teach you anything. I'm sure if you think hard, you will find the answer you are looking for."

The Monk tried to redeem himself, as he used the Guru's training to use his chi to control his breathing. Aang thought about every riddle; splinter, fire, water, darkness, the past, swords, memories, wheat straw, and finally death. Somehow, they were all connected to him, but in what order, or did it really matter. Did they all mean what they stood for, or did they stand for something else? Were they all who he was, or did only a few things truly describe him. So many questions, and yet time was running out.

"_Okay."_ he thought to himself, _"This man had dealt with death before, and he no longer feared…it so perhaps he has somehow already died? Or maybe a death in the family has wounded him so badly, that it changed him. Darkness deals with issues of the heart, and how easily we can be strayed away into it. The Splinter represents a memory that is stuck within him, or it could easily represent a tree itself or even a forest. Fire is dangerous to people who have never fought Firebender's, and it can also destroy. His favorite riddle seemed to be about the swords, which meant he was very handy when it came to a knife fight. Water seemed to have somehow cooled and soothed him in ways he never thought possible, like it put out the fire in his heart. His past was connected Aang's past somehow, which he already knew, but what really got him was the wheat straw. That was used to make bread, or to grow as a farmer…so what did it have to do with him?"_

The answer was right there in front of him, but perhaps he was making it too difficult on himself. There were so many plausible answers, and _he_ was connected to them all somehow some way. He seemed to have gone through so much pain and suffering, that Aang felt it too. But what did they all mean? What was the connection? The shackled person said he was his past so he tried to think of everyone he had encountered with, but there was just too many of them. The Air Nomad took a step closer to him, and looked him straight in his good brown eye once again. Finally after studying him for a few minutes, it suddenly hit Aang and it caused his eyes to go big.

"No, you—you died…I remember Toph saying it! How?" he asked cautiously.

The man gave him an ignorant laugh, "It took you long enough to figure it out Aang, but as for how—well lets just say it wasn't easy."

"But how, how did you survive _Jet_?"

Jet sighed, "A life for a life, I suppose you could say. Smeller Bee and Long Shot dragged me out of Lake Laogai, and did everything they could to save me. Eventually, I told them to leave me at the infirmary, and after hours of arguing they left me in peace. I could feel darkness coming around me, time seemed to not matter anymore as I traveled through the Universe. A light was there, and I almost took it until a man shook me at my shoulder, and he specifically asked me _'Do you want to live?'_"

"And you naturally said yes." Aang speculated while he crossed his arms and loosened his grip on his staff. This made Jet angry as he tugged on his chains, and moved a foot away from Aang's face. The Monk was surprised that he didn't jump back, but he was nothing compared to Ozai.

"Don't act like you know me Aang, I never asked for this! I told them to let me die, and then they asked me another question. He asked if I had one reason or one person to live for. There was actually…and there _still_ is."

The Avatar knew exactly who he was talking about, and it made his own fury resurface once again as he took another step closer to him; just inches from his face. "This wasn't about a cure at all, was it? You knew that if I was here, then _she_ would be too." Aang could see his own reflection in Jets eyes, and he could have sworn that he saw his eyes go completely black.

This made the half man chuckle, "I didn't lie to you Aang. There is a remedy, but if I am going to die once they get it, I might as well have some 'form' of pleasure out of life before I die _again_." Jet wasn't going to give up anything else once he relaxed himself from the chains. "Let me see Katara, and I swear I'll give you it."

"After everything you have done to these people, to Katara, all of us, what makes you think that I she will do it? Let alone me?"

Jet put his chin on his chest for a few seconds, and then looked back at Aang who stood at his height "Because I know you better than you think. You would do anything to save these people; including Katara who I'm sure is already infected by it. You need the medicine, and I have something to fix with her. Just give me five minutes _alone_ with her." He emphasized the word alone, knowing full and well that Aang wasn't going to listen.

The Air Nomad turned his back on him, and started walking back towards the entrance. He stopped within a few feet of it, and placed his hands on his hips while the Demon in him began to fight. It felt like someone was clawing at his insides, and it made him want to throw up. His right hand traveled up to his eyes as he applied pressure to them, and when it felt like they would go all the way to the back of his head, his palm traveled over his wet bald head. The Monk hated this negotiation, but even more he hated Jet. He was using this against him, because Jet knew that he couldn't get within a hundred yards of Katara without having to fight him himself; and this was his scapegoat. The idea of Jet and Katara in the same room…just the thought of this was making it hard for Aang not to go into the Avatar State right then and there. And the Spirit inside of him was causing his body to feel like fire was burning though his veins, while his chest began to tighten up on him so much that it could easily crush his lungs. And without meaning too, Aang punched a hole right through the thick wall where cracks started to take form from it. Once he realized what he did, the scared Monk stepped away still breathing out loud.

Jet smirked underneath with a sour laugh that came afterwards. "And they fear Me." he said sarcastically, "Makes me wonder if Katara fears you the same way, but then again you would know it wouldn't you?"

Aang's eyes began to water a little, as those words stuck through him like a double edged sword. Katara told him that she didn't fear him even after knowing his struggle inside, but she it didn't mean that she never thought it either. He looked back at the hole that he made, and took a deep breath and exhaled it out. He stomped his foot hard to the ground, which made the door fly back up for him to walk out of that hell hole.

"I'll be waiting. I have nothing but time Aang. But the question is do the Earthbender's or your friends have it as well? Are you going to risk their life, over jealousy of what Katara and I had or could easily still have? Plus, I have some information for you that you might want to know before they kill me."

"And what could possibly make you think I am interested in it?"

"How about the Airbender that betrayed your people and helped slaughter them all?"

Aang still didn't turn to him, but just talked to the wall. "I know Sozin killed them all, but an Air Nomad would never betray my people."

Jet smirked, "Not everyone is who they seem to be Aang. I'm sure you are curious to how they even found the Air Temple, or better yet how they got up there so easily. Don't you want to know his name, or why he did it?"

The Airbender's past was over flowing now, as he could easily imagine his home being burned to the ground. Gyatso fighting more Firebender's than he could possibly handle, his friends that became his family, being burned to death. How could someone, who was like Aang, do this? What would make a man so crazy that he would kill his own people? Of course he wanted to know, but he promised himself that he would no longer dwell in his past anymore; he had moved on.

"It doesn't matter anymore. That was over a hundred years ago…" The Air Nomad clenched his jaw, and walked out of the negotiating room. Before he let it go, Jet said one more thing to him.

"Yes it was, but I'm sure it would be nice to complete the missing puzzle piece that you have been trying to figure out for so many years; you _want_ to know. Whenever you're ready, I'll tell you who he was."

"You could be lying to me once again."

"I told you that I didn't lie, but you must still care since you are still here talking to me. If you truly didn't want to know, you would have walked out of this place. Instead, you linger because you still blame yourself."

"No!" he turned at looked at him from a distant, but he did hold the guilt still. Even after the Guru helped him, it still didn't mean that he wasn't carrying their deaths with him. "This is the last I want to hear about this! The past is the past, and I have come to know who I really am."

"Are you sure?" he dangled the question over Aang's head, "I think you are just as lost and scared as any other kid would be. It's hard to be the Saint, but it's so much easier to be the Devil."

The Monk let the door fall hard to the ground, wishing it would just crush his last words away as they stuck to him, like a knife in his spine. He traveled back through the knee high mud with his staff in hand while running as fast as he could through it. Knocking the mud onto his face and clothing, but he didn't care as the ideas of the Jet and Katara came back into his mind. Once he got to the spot where the light above him, he looked up at what seemed like a small star, and then back down into the darkness.

"Aahh!" he yelled at the dirt, and stuck his arm down into it; grabbing the soil underneath and then shooting himself back up to the light. It only took him a minute to get back up, with his rampage flaring off of him as he shot out of the dark hole and into the sun. He went about a fifty feet into the air, and then released the Earth back into the hole, as he fell back down to the grass. Aang landed hard onto his toes, with one knee down on the ground, and his hands placed on the green land with his staff still in tact. The dirt dripped from his face, which was able to hide his tears that was mixed in. He looked up at the people running towards him. He slowly stood up with the help of his glider and just couldn't move while he watched them coming towards him. He then airbended the mud off of his clothing and body, wishing he could easily do that with his past memories. The longing to know who did this taunted with him, and Jet possibly had the answer he was looking for.

"What the hell were you thinking Aang?" Katara said infuriated, but happy to see that he only had a few cuts on his sides and clothing. Automatically she could tell that he was angry; this was a whole different dark side of him that she had ever seen. "Did the whole speech about _not going off and being a Hero alone_, ring a bell?"

Aang didn't answer. He looked at his friends, with Jet's words ringing in his ear still. Sokka spoke up, "Who was down there Aang? What did he want?"

"Is there a cure?" Zuko asked impatiently after a few seconds when he didn't answer Sokka, but Mai grabbed his shoulders to pull him back and give Aang some breathing room.

Teo rolled to his right side, and could tell that he was indeed angry. If you had ever burned yourself, and then reach for the fire again then that was what Aang felt like to the young inventor. His face was so red that it made him look like he was about to snap his new glider, that he and his dad made, in half.

"Dude, what happened down there?" Teo asked mellow toned, knowing he probably wouldn't get an answer.

Suki stepped in to save Aang, "Come on guys. Give him a second! He just barely got out of that dark hole, and you're interrogating him like he's the villain!"

"_Villain."_ the Airbender thought to himself, and then snickered out loud. _"I am a Villain…they are all scared of me, and I didn't see it until now. Even by looking at Katara, he could see that Jet was right was right. Katara is good at hiding things, but there was terror in the mixture of her emotions."_

The Blind Bandit didn't say anything, but instead she listened to everyone's questions, and Aang's heart. His pulse was quick, but when Suki tried to help him, his heart was even faster than normal. Aang looked around at all of them, and then looking into their eyes, still able to see his own reflection somehow. Ozai was eating him up on the inside, with his laughter and mocking running though his head. The pain was so horrific that if someone sliced a knife on him somewhere on his body, he would not be able to feel it. Aang closed his while clenching his jaw so hard his muscles started to twitch, while his teeth grinded against each other. He felt like running as hard and as fast as he could right now, but he made a promise to a young boy named Lee that he would never leave again…sometimes Aang wished he could take back that promise. The Monster inside of him was hardly attacking him at all, but he was just toying with his own emotions.

The Monk opened his eyes back up to all of them, and walked past them towards Tyro who was still looking down at the black hole; almost as if he could see Jet in those chains right now laughing at him. When he finally reached the giant leader, with the others following closely behind him, he asked darkly "How many deaths have occurred since this happened again?"

Tyro looked down sadly, "This afternoon it was fifty…now it's fifty-five."

Aang grasped at his tears. He could truly see that he had no choice but to obey Jet's request. As much as he hated him, especially for trading sides, he had to do it. But would he be able to go through with it

"You know him—don't you Aang?" the tall man asked him, and looked down into the darkness and back to the confused boy. This made everyone else look at him too, as they couldn't take the suspense of this mysterious person any more.

The Monk nodded twice and looked back up at Haru's Father, and then to the others. "Once upon a time when he was on our side...we knew him as Jet. He was once my friend, and a leader of the Freedom Fighters, but he is no longer the same person." Aang heard some gasping, but Katara's was the loudest of them all and it made his stomach feel like Jet just put his sword right through him and then began to turn the blade inside of him.

He looked over and Katara, in which he couldn't read her face. "He never wanted to speak to me, it's Katara he wants to talk to…and hopefully give her what we need."

Again, the Waterbender showed no sign of movement as she looked up at Aang. She finally understood why this bothered him, and it scared her when she looked back into not soft storm eyes, but a hurricane.

Sokka spoke up, "Wait! This is the same Jet who blew up a dam against the Fire Nation, whom he hates passionately? The same one who supposedly died at Lake Laogai, and is now working with the Fire Nation? That same Jet?"

Aang just nodded. "Over my dead body he'll see her!" Sokka yelled.

"But if he's willing to give the cure, isn't it worth it? I mean he's chained up, and has no bending abilities, so how much damage could he really do?" Toph asked.

Katara still didn't say anything as the memories of her first real crush came into her mind, and not wanting to believe that he was still alive after what had happened.

"There's something else too…it's possible that you _all_ might have it too." the Air Nomad said, ashamed to tell them this possibility.

"But I feel fine." Mai said and stopped messing with her dagger in her hand.

Aang looked up at Tyro again, "How long did it take for the symptoms to occur?"

"Depends on the person; older people received it within hours, young teens in maybe a day, and infants got it in a matter of moments. First they were vomiting constantly, itching would come to, then the boils, along with hallucinations, and finally they would cough out blood. From then, they would die within the hour."

The Airbender looked at all of his friends, saving Katara for the last person. And as sincerely as he could he said, "I'm sorry Katara. I won't tell you what to do…you need to do this on your own. He wants you to come alone, but you should take Toph with you still."

"Why?" the Earthbender asked.

Aang sneered to himself, "When he meant alone, he meant for me not to be down there. Besides, if anything goes wrong, you can use your Earthbending skills to take him down." he said, hating the idea of killing Jet, but then again it didn't sound too bad of an idea either.

"Take him down?"

"…Jet is an Assassin Toph. I don't need to ask you—"

Toph put her left hand up, "Don't say it. I get enough of the 'protection speech' from both of you as it is."

Aang looked at Katara and nodded to the agreement with Toph and then he walked away from the Gang; he just needed to get away from everything and everyone. But his travels led him back to a village with the kids playing with a ball that was laced together with different materials, while using their Earthbending. The Monk leaned up against a rocky house, and just watched them play. It was just simply amazing that even though these kids were sick, they seemed to show more spirit than anyone had ever seen. His eyes went to the families who cheered them on, and were laughing. They were seemed so much happier, and Aang knew why. He just hoped that Jet would give them the information that they needed…but at what cost?

OooooOooooOoooo

The dark skinned girl watched Aang's back all the way down the hill, with him disappearing out of sight. He obviously didn't want to be apart of this any more than she did, but he delivered the message and now it was time for her to make that decision.

"You're seriously not considering talking to that _Hit Man_ down there, are you?" Toph asked.

Katara looked down at the blind girl, "I—I have to try…I don't really have much of a choice really." she said unwillingly.

Sokka took his sisters shoulders and made her look at him, "No. I won't let you! He's a thug and can't be trusted Katara, let alone with you by yourself. I'll kill him before he comes within ten feet of you."

Zuko hated to interrupt this family meeting, but he had to say it. "And if she doesn't, we could all die soon. I don't like this idea anymore than Aang or you do, but it's up to Katara. No matter the decision, we are behind you no matter what."

The Waterbender looked at her brave friends, seeing that they would rather die than to face Jet again, but how could she do that to them. How could she watch Tyro die slowly and never allow him the chance to find his own son again? Having to let his people suffer and die in his sight…or for her to see Aang, her brother, or her friends suffer too. She looked around at everyone's concerned face, took Toph's hand and ran to the hole. Without a word spoken, Toph then formed a bridge of dirt across the dark hole in front of them; Katara ran to the middle with the Blind Bandit a few paces away. And just like that, they began falling down to the dark hole, with only Toph as her guide.

Katara couldn't believe how cold it was down in this deep pit; she didn't know how deep it was, but if she hadn't been used to living in the North, then she would be freezing right now. Toph showed no hint of cold in her body as they both walked through the mysterious water, with no light; only the Blind Earthbender as her guide. It took them both a few minutes to get to the giant wall, until the dark skinned girl ran into Toph accidentally.

"Ooff." Katara hissed, "You could have at least warned me!"

"And I could've just dropped you off, and let you find this place on your own!" she retorted back at her, with a stomp on her foot. The rock door shot up for them to enter.

"After you your Highness." Toph motioned for her hand, and guided her through.

The smell of mud and blood mixed was an unpleasant smell for Katara, and with the smell of fire in the air it just didn't seem like it was helping with the sweaty odor. The Waterbender kept on walking with Toph behind her, but decided to hide in the shadows in case she was really suppose to be alone. She kept on going until she came to the man in chains, and she couldn't believe her eyes. It was Jet indeed, but he was _so_ different; more human but also machine too. She couldn't believe the technology on him, or how he was even able to survive after Lake Laogai. So many questions were running through her mind, and she wondered if Aang felt the same way when he looked to him.

Jet's head moved up a little, so he could look down into those beautiful blue eyes that were now mixed with fire light. He breathed her in, "It's been a while since I have smelt beautiful." he said as charming as possible.

Katara just folded up her arms, not caring at all about his compliment. "And you could use a bath." she said with a hint of sarcasm, "Why am I here?"

He grinned underneath his metal triangle, "What, no '_Hi Jet. Good to see that you're alive and well. How are you doing?' _No formal introductions? "

"Don't give me that. You deserve to be in these chains after what you did to these people! Which makes you the enemy Jet, or do you go by something else now from the Rebellions?"

This made him laugh a little, "They still call me Jet, but the ladies call me a Sweetheart." He winked at her. Katara gave him the dirtiest look she could conjure up. He changed the subject, "And as for the _Rebellion_? That's what you call them? Not much of a fierce name as they put it."

"Don't you mean _your_ name? You are apart of their group now aren't you?"

"Wow—straight to judging me after two years, and still not wiling to give me a chance to explain myself. Maybe I'm not apart of their group…maybe I'm a spy? Or maybe I lived, so I could tell you something important…they brought me back to life, how? I don't know, but I did it for _you_."

Katara took a step back, not wanting to believe a single word he said. There was a small part of her that still hated Jet, and yet there was forgiveness too; however, she wasn't going to show him it. "Well you wasted your life then for this. I could've been perfectly happy not seeing you again."

Jet just looked at her for a few minutes, study all of her features. She had turned into the most breathtaking women he had ever seen, and he was glad to have seen her once again even if she hated him still. But a part of him told him that she still had small feelings for him and she didn't want to admit them to him. He had a devious plan of showing her, but it was going to take some more questioning for her to do that.

"I know I screwed up with you Katara. I know that I used Aang, Sokka, and most importantly you to get what I wanted. But I figured with me dying there in front of you…you might have forgiven me or something?"

Katara remembered that day very well in fact; it was a sad time for Aang when he lost Appa and how much pain he was in. Even at one point in time he seemed to show no emotion at all, he was acting like someone who didn't deserve to live anymore without his best friend around. And when they ran into Jet, she was still mad at him, but there was also happiness in a way too. Toph was able to read her when she asked if Jet was her boyfriend, which Katara denied, but it didn't stop her from making fun of the Waterbender.

"Jet, why did you ask me down here? Was it for redemption? So you can tell me how sorry you are? If you were truly sorry, then you will tell me everything that has happened to you the day we left and then I want the cure. These people don't deserve to die just because you don't care if you die again, but we care about them. And from what I have heard, my friends and I might have this plague too. So if you want to redeem yourself even remotely with me, you will tell me everything! Now!"

Jet sighed, as he tried to act like he was caught in a corner. But he knew Katara pretty well after spending some time with her, her moves were easy to predict sometimes. "Smellerbee and Longshot got me out of there, and brought me into Ba Sing Se. They tired to help me, but nothing worked. So I told them to leave me, which they did after arguing with me and I let the peace come over me. Death in a way is far more peaceful than life, because life is just harder. I wanted to die in that bed, knowing I perhaps died trying to help Aang with finding Appa. After that I heard Long Fang's voice, which I remembered well, and he asked if I would want to live or die. If there was a reason for me to stay alive, and then I thought of you Katara…so I joined up with them. But I was never really _one_ of them."

She took a step forward to him, "Who is _them_?"

An army of shadows, Earthbender's, Firebender's, and Waterbender's; they call themselves '_Death Stalker's_', which are also—"

"—known as the most poisonous scorpion that lives in the Earth Kingdom as well as their desert." she spoke quickly.

"Humph. Not only is she beautiful, but she knows her Arthropods. Each bending nation has a leader in it, which I'm not sure, who they are because I wasn't allowed yet. For the past year and a half, I have been training with them in swords, learning secrets, but I never became one of them. They are murderers, child abusers, thieves, corrupt men, but scarier than most armies I have ever seen. The Fire Nation could never touch these guys even if Fire Lord Ozai knew them."

"Who is leading them?" she asked as she was now being drawn into everything he was saying. Surprisingly, she believed him, but she would have to depend on Toph for an accurate answer.

"Once again, I don't know. Some of the men say they are waiting for him, others say he's a Spirit, and some just don't care at all. Those are the ones you should fear the most Katara. I have been living with those people for so long, that I felt like I was losing myself. But then you would pop into my head, and I knew what I had to do. When they came here, I was going to run for it, but the Earthbender's caught me and chained me up…so I've been waiting for Aang to come. For some reason he always came when there was trouble, so I just had to wait. They did many things to me down here, but I wanted to live, so I can see you again!'

"There is nothing between us Jet! You died when I saw you almost destroy a town, full of innocent people! You not only betrayed me, but you betrayed what you stood for; Justice. And I learned it too from you…I came to almost killing a man, because he was the one who killed my Mother! But because of Aang, I was able to be better than you!" she said, not really understanding why she was opening up to him, but she had to get more information out of him.

"Someday you will have to take a life Katara, and then who will you compare yourself to?"

The Waterbender clenched her jaw, feeling the muscles in them aching now. "Where is the location of these so called_ Death Stalkers's_?"

He let air out in defeat, "I don't know to be honest. They would always wash our memories away, so if he we were ever caught or tortured then we couldn't tell others their location. Pretty smart if you ask me."

"Well it's a good thing I didn't ask for your opinion then." she said angrily, "What is the antidote Jet. Tell me what it is, and you may die a good man after all…even if you are on the wrong side."

"I never hurt anyone Katara. I was badly beaten for my disobedience with the 'Rebellion'; they mocked me, I was spat on, starved to death, and almost drowned millions of times. But they kept me around because I was good with a sword, and had extensive skills too. As much as they wanted me dead, I was worth more to them alive."

"You could have told someone! You could've snuck out, or gotten caught on purpose and told them everything that you are telling me right now."

Jet twisted his wrist a little to ease the pain that was forming. "The only reason I am still alive right now, is because they believe I am one of _them_! Knowledge is priceless when you want to know something, and are willing to do just about anything to get it too. So tell me, who would have believed me? I have their mark on my back, and the metal to prove that I am theirs! Tell me who would trust a _thing_ like me!"

If Katara wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn she saw a tear drip down his face and onto the solid rocks where her feet were. Suddenly she felt a cool breeze of air hitting her back, which she figured Toph needed to leave to tell the others what she had found out from Jet. The Waterbender took another step forward; leaving half a foot in between them.

"I would have…I would have believed you, Jet." she said with no hint of anger, but instead compassion.

He bent down very slowly to her, and whispered "Why? After all that I have told you, you choose _now_ to believe me? What changed your mind?"

"As much as I don't want to, you are still more human than you think; which makes me want to believe your story. But if you want the opportunity to get out of here, then you will need my help. Give me the medicine and I'll convince Tyro to let you go free with no strings attached." she said quietly for some reason too.

Jet had her, and he knew someone was watching him and he was going to enjoy the torture of this particular person. "Then I'll need something else to prove that you are with me on this." he said, reeling her in.

She nodded, and then he said, "Kiss me then."

Katara took a step back and suddenly wanted to hit him as hard as she could, or freeze his body for an eternity. "Excuse me?"

Jet laughed a little, "Your not that deaf Katara, I know you heard me."

"I would rather die than to _ever_ kiss you!"

Again Jet laughed even louder through his mask, "You would die, but are you willing to risk other people's lives for it? Are you willing to put your needs ahead of theirs, Katara just because you can't bring yourself to give me on simple kiss for a cure…lucky for you I'm being gracious right now."

Katara squeezed her hands into a ball so tightly, that she could feel her finger nails cutting into her soft palms. "And—how would I even be able to do it with…"

"You can take it off. I only have thirty seconds to live off of it, so for twenty-five seconds you kiss me and that's it. One measly kiss for hundreds of life's to save…seems like a no brainer from my point of view."

The Waterbender turned her back to him, and desperately wanted to run to the door. She would yell at him that he had better have another life line, but she couldn't. The thought of new Sister-in-Law Suki, her brother Sokka, Toph, Teo, Zuko, Mai, Tyro, and Aang seemed to all pop into her head at once. The images of the children, Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents were flashing to her as well, and the blue eyed girl wished that she wasn't in this position to make a decision like this. Katara knew that she was going to have to do it, but she _hated_ the thought of kissing anyone else besides Aang…she would honestly rather die than kiss Jet, but she wanted Aang to live on. To fight this new dangerous Army that was forming in order to save the world that they all lived in now; and would one day, hopefully, be together in it forever. She had made her decision, and turned back to him, not even realizing that her cheeks were wet.

Katara walked to him slowly, as if every step had some kind of explosive underneath her feet. She reached up to the mask very slowly, while Jet towered over her and was about to remove it until Jet said something.

"But you have to convince me Katara. I know how much Aang cares for you, and I'm sure you are the same with him. So you have to kiss me, as if I were him—and believe me, I'll know if it's true or not." he said, like he had forgotten a rule, but decided to throw it in once he knew Katara would do it.

The Waterbender hesitated, as she realized that he had found her source of happiness. This was all part of his plan, and she fell into it like she was the actress herself. She urgently wanted to take the metal piece from his mouth and let him die right there, but she would never be able to live with herself without Aang, her brother, or her close friends there. It would be an empty world to her, and nothing to live for anymore. Katara looked back up into his eyes that were filled with anger and barely said, "Okay."

She took a deep breath, and took it off with ease. The triangle on his face was very pale, due to the sun not hitting his skin underneath. She put her hands on his cheeks, and looked at them as if she was looking at Aang's beautiful storm eyes, while she got up on her toes. _"Please forgive me Aang."_

And then she kissed him. His lips were far more cooler than Aang's which she didn't like in the least bit, and his lips were dried at cracked underneath hers. It was nothing like kissing Aang and she truly hated it. But she had to prove to him that it was like kissing the Airbender, so she slid her tongue into mouth as she tried to drain the life out him. Jet followed her lead and slipped his into hers; tasting the rain in her mouth and loving every second of it. She pressed her face against his even harder, while he tried to get down lower. His tongue went to the back of her throat, which she found difficult to fight it out of her mouth. Jet grabbed her bottom lip with his teeth, and accidentally bit it too hard that he tasted blood. He moaned and began to suck on it, like it was the freshest water source in the entire Universe. Katara jerked away at the pain in her lip with his sweat stinging it now. He was out of breath and completely intoxicated with her, that he tried to go in a second time but she put the metal sheet over his mouth and stood far away from him. Again she felt cool air hitting her back, and the sound of rocks sliding against one another, which she guessed that Toph came back.

Jet breathed in and out fast, happy to have done what he did and would do it again if it meant for her to kiss him _that_ way. He had enjoyed everything about it, the way her mouth was all over his, or how her tongue gave him the strength to be tortured for the rest of his life. She gave him everything, and he knew Aang had watched it all. He smiled viscously, and looked back down at Katara.

"What is the antidote?" she asked still out of breath, as she all of the sudden felt some kind of pain in her stomach. She had betrayed Aang on so many levels, and it made her want to throw up once she tasted the blood on her lips.

Jet breathed in the happy air, and then let it out slowly. "Tell Aang this riddle for me, and you will have the cure you desire; which I am quite confident that he will know the answer.

_What begins and has no end? What is the ending of all that begins?_

_When I am hot, the anger rises._ _When I am cool, it paralyzes me. _

_When I race, the throbbing shakes you. I can cure, and I can kill. _

Do you think you can remember everything Katara? The fate of those people up there will depend upon you."

To be honest, Katara couldn't remember it all, but she knew that Toph could. One of the great things about being blind was that your senses and memories are ten times better, or at least that is what Toph always told her. She could recall some of his riddle, but she wasn't too great at memorizing this stuff. She prayed to herself that Toph had been listening carefully, and that she could tell Aang. Katara just hoped that she wouldn't tell him all that happened down here either.

She nodded to him, "I'm sure I can remember it just fine. You'll be lucky if they don't kill you, you know." Katara pointed out to him.

Jet laughed, "Well it was more than worth it on my part; I told you all that had happened to me, that I'm not one of them, and I got to kiss you…in front of Aang."

The Waterbender looked straight up at him, and formed ice around her knuckles and gave him her hardest right hook that she could swing at him. The sound of ice and metal shattering echoed in the small room. She didn't know what he meant about Aang being there, but her instincts told her to him anyways. "Goodbye Jet. For your sake, I hope we never meet again." she said, and turned away.

Jet could feel warm liquid running down his left cheek, but he never thought she would hit him like that. He was pretty sure that the piece of shard covering his mouth was dented, but luckily it still worked. "I'm on your side Katara; please tell me what to do to change your mind about me!"

Toph grabbed her wrist and guided back to the door where she opened it for the Waterbender, who stopped at looked back at the chained up man. "Tell them everything you know about this Army being built; help us, and then _maybe_ I'll consider changing my mind you, but until then I cannot."

They both walked out of there, through the mystery waters, and Toph rose them back up the top. The air was so much lighter and freer. She had never been so happy to be back on soft green pastures, with the smell of night coming. It was no longer day time anymore, but the sun had just barely gone down. The Gang sat at an open fire a few yards down the hill, causing both of them run. Sokka jumped up and ran to Katara, hugging his sister tightly; happy to know that she wasn't hurt or injured in any sort of way.

"So what did he tell you?" asked Teo, who had just rolled up. The Waterbender looked around at everyone and noticed that Aang was missing from the group. Katara looked around, and saw him leaning next to a tree with a view of the small town below him. Even from a distance though, she could almost feel anger waving off from him, and it frightened her a little.

"Well yes, and no." she said.

Suki looked at her oddly, "What do you mean?"

"He gave me the answer, but I'm not good with riddles; he told me to give it to Aang personally."

Zuko crossed his arms, "Was there something _else_ that happened down there?"

The Waterbender looked down at Toph, but she was leaning her back against Teo's wooden wheel chair now. Katara shook her head and pretended that she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Just lots of talking…nothing of concern to discuss."

"Liar." was all that Mai could say in the most plain, but ear piercing tone to Katara.

"Katara." Sokka said, "Something must've happened down there, because when Aang came back up—"

"Came back up? He went down there when I was with Jet?"

Everyone nodded their heads, and Zuko said "I have seen that look on his face Katara…I think you should go talk to him." he hinted to her, remembering that Sokka still didn't know anything about it. Suddenly, she understood what Jet meant about kissing in front of Aang; he was the audience and he only saw the ending.

"_I'm going to kill Jet before the Earthbenders do."_ she said with so much pain and fury in her head. Her hate for him was even stronger now, and she decided that she wasn't going to try and convince Tyro to let him go. He had destroyed the one person whom she trusted the most, and now he hated her; perhaps even despised her, and probably felt like someone just stuck a knife through his back, and then slice it all the way down his back…she had to fix this, before it was too late. She whispered something to Toph, who agreed with her, before she walked up to Aang.

She walked slower than necessary, but she was trying to think of how to even start the conversation. What or how can you tell someone that you're sorry for kissing someone to get information out of them? How does one even come out of not losing the one person you are willing to give your life for, and still lose them?

Katara finally made it, and stood on Aang's right with only a couple inches separating them. The Monk had his eyes shut, with his fist in a tight ball; it made it almost seem like he was about to punch a hole in the Earth itself. She desperately wanted to just hug him, but even the thought of touching him sent an alarm down her spine. Katara didn't know how long she stood there next to them, as the night began to cool a little and the town began to sleep.

Aang slowly opened his eyes and said, "Did Jet tell you what the solution is?" His voice was so ice cold that he could easily freeze the sun itself.

Katara wanted to get Toph up here quickly, but she knew that there was something else on his mind. "I can't tell you until we talk about what happened down there."

The Monk still didn't look at her as he shrugged, "I don't know what you are talking about. Jet said he would give it to you, so please what it is."

"Not until you tell me what you saw."

"Katara this isn't the time or the place; people lives are at stake here and you want to play guessing games with me?"

"Peoples lives are always at stake Aang when they need you. Don't shut me out when I know you were down there…I know that you saw me and Jet—" she stopped herself. She just couldn't say kiss in the same sentence.

Now he turned around, with his back leaning on the tree with his arms still crossed. "Kiss." he finished for her, and right when he said that, there was a sudden desire to get down on her knees and beg for his forgiveness. "Katara what ever happened…I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to help these people, because my _duty_ is to them first."

Aang saw the reaction on her face, and he would rather have Azula strike with him with lightning once again than to look at her crushed heart. The Avatar's had made it clear to him that the people were to _always_ first, and he always fought with Roku on it even though it was true. In his own ways, Katara was his absolute most important person, but right now the people needed him. Their relationship, or whatever was left of it, was going to have to wait.

"Katara I need to know how to help these people, please?" he asked urgently.

She looked up at him. He no longer had anger, rage, or pain in his gray eyes. It was the face of not Aang, but _Avatar_ Aang. The Waterbender wanted, no needed to tell him, but there was no point anymore. He was just as stubborn as she was, and now she was going to have to give him his space. She knew they would talk about it, but would he understand? And now Katara wondered if Jet would have asked for something else, would she still have done it anyways?

The hurt dark skinned girl only nodded her head, and took his hand as they ran back down to the Gang, who waited very anxious to know the answer. Toph had obviously told them about it, but they were no better than she was at guessing it. The Waterbender let go of his hand and asked the Blind Girl to tell him the exact words, in which she did and it made him ponder.

At first, he thought it had to deal with time in the beginning, but Jet may have used that to throw him off. Aang walked around the fire for a few minutes, with every eye on him now as he thought. He was very good at riddles, but the pressure was on him now. If he got it wrong, then he could make things worse, so a hundred percent sure of his answer. Fire and Ice seemed to kind of go with the second line, and it could kill you but it wasn't the answer. The Monk knew he was making it more complicated than necessary; however it just wasn't hitting him. His mind still lingered on who betrayed his people, and why, but his real thoughts were on the exact image of Katara kissing Jet, like he was her everything.

Sokka had been sharpening his sword while the Airbender kept going around in circles, not thinking about the riddle anymore. Then something happened to Sokka. While he was sharpening his sword, the rock slipped out of his hand and he ended up cutting his palm open. Blood trickled down the blade, which made the white piece of steel stand out even more now.

"Ah, come on!" he yelled at himself, and making everyone look at him. Sokka place his palm to his mouth, and began sucking the blood; tasting the rustiness of it.

"Ha-ha! Leave it Sokka to cut himself on his own sword." Toph laughed to herself, in which it made Aang stop.

_Blood_. "That's it! Sokka you're a genius!" he yelled to him.

"How is it that wolf tail boy over there" Toph pointed to him with her thumb, "cuts himself, with his own sword I might add, and it makes him a genius?"

"Come on Toph, let him dream." he smiled confidently at his genius…but still not understanding what he did right.

"Blood!" Aang said, "That's the riddles answer. I can't believe I didn't think of this before!"

"But how does blood help these people?" Zuko asked, "They seem to have enough in to live on, and yet it's killing them."

Aang crouched down on his toes, and arms on his thighs. "Indeed you are right; and everyone's blood is different…as well as the Avatar's." he said, with all eyes on him now. "When I was being raised I had learned that Avatar's could live for a long time, because of how different our bodies are. Kyoshi lived to be two hundred and thirty years old, and I'm sure that others have lived longer than that even. Before I ran away from home, Gyatso taught me that the Avatar's have natural healing abilities. They aren't like Katara's of course, but it takes half the amount of time to heal, sometimes even less than that. If I can get enough blood out of my body, it's possible that this village can be saved."

"But Aang," Suki said "there are a lot of people here, and if too much blood is drawn, then you could die. Besides, how would we know how much to give people, or how to give it to them?"

The Monk looked over at the beautiful girl sitting next to him, who was about to hate what he was going to say. He exhaled, "Bloodbending. It's the only way to control everything, and to stop it. I'll need your help with that Katara, and as for how much to give a person…I think Tyro should be the first to test this theory."

Everyone had seemed to have forgotten that he was even there, as he sat with the group from a far distance and listened without interrupting them. The man was getting weaker, and he was fading quickly. He was a strong fighter, but it was only bound to get worse. The tall man stood up, and said "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my village."

Aang nodded to him, and looked over at Mai who played with her dagger, while it went back and forth between her fingers. She stopped and without having saying a word to her, the pale girl tossed it over the fire at Aang. He caught it without cutting himself, and stood up. Then he walked over to Tyro who took the dagger and cut his own palm open as the blood began to drip down the sides of his hand. Everyone was surrounding them now, while Aang took back the dagger and cut his palm in the same manner.

The Monk was surprised at how hard it was to cut yourself on purpose, because if you didn't do it hard enough, then you wouldn't want to slice it in the same place all over again. Luckily, he got it the first time and squeezed his fist into a tight ball. Katara hated that Aang even considered doing this, but who was she to stop the Avatar from doing the right thing. Aang let about forty drops go into the cut on Tyro's palm. They all stood and just waited for something to happen. Seconds passed by, minutes, ten minutes, and finally it began to work. But suddenly, all of his veins started to turn black, from his arms, to his head and feet. It seemed to hurt Tyro, but he fought against the pain.

To Tyro, it felt like someone had just put placed him in hot boiling lava and then decided to throw candle oil on him to make it even worse. Unfortunately, he couldn't take the pain anymore as he bent down to the floor and roared in pain to the Night Spirits. Tyro was a strong and courageous man, and they all knew he wouldn't yell in pain unless it hurt a lot. Aang grabbed onto his shoulders, trying to hold him from rolling around. His muscles were tensed, almost as if he was trying to Earthbend an entire mountain up all on his own. The soldiers ran towards the roaring sound of their leader, ready to fight to the death.

"Should this be happening?" Sokka yelled, as he and Zuko grabbed hold of his legs and arms from bending anything.

"I'm not sure what should be happening, but the poison is stronger than what I expected. It's like sucking the venom out of a two headed rattle snake viper…it's going to hurt." he said.

After what seemed like forever, Tyro's body calmed down to the point of exhaustions while he just laid there very still. Both Toph and Aang could still feel his slow heart beating, but he was alive at least. His body was sweaty, while he seemed to shake a little like he was cold. Aang then looked back down at cut down at the man's but hand, and saw that black liquid was coming out of it; forming a puddle onto the green grass. After minutes of them all just waiting anxiously, while the girls told the soldiers what was going on. At long last the venom seemed to have completely pushed out of the cut hand, and without hesitation the Air Nomad put his good hand on it and burned that patch of the grass until there was no trace left of it. He then motioned Katara over to him to heal his wound to a scab, just to close it up for now.

Tyro's face came back to color, while his muscles had at long last relaxed and he no longer shivered. "Tyro?" Aang asked, "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

In a blink of an eye, the man's eye lids popped opened widely and he was on his feet in a split second, with Sokka neck in his arms. He breathed in the cool air around, and just closed his eyes as if he had just been reborn into a new life. All of the boils and marks that were on his body were now gone, and he seemed more _energetic_.

"I am more than okay Avatar Aang; I feel like I can take on the World! I haven't felt like this since I was a teenager. It worked!"

Aang smiled, "I hope so. The poison was drawn out of your veins by my blood as it went through your whole body and pushed it out…however, I think I put too much in you due to the fact that you have Sokka in a head lock."

"H-e-l-p-m-e-!" he squeaked out with his face turning a dark purple color. Tyro let go of him, like he had just realized what he was doing.

"Oh, sorry my boy."

The young Warrior gasped for air, as he coughed it out. "You-just-caught-me-off-guard, that's-all. I won't-hold it against-you."

Tyro chuckled, and picked him up by his shirt like he was a rag doll. "Sorry Sokka, old habits die hard I guess." And then he looked back at Aang, and gave him such a strong hug that when the Airbender heard his back crack, he thought he had broken his bones. "You did it! You found the cure!"

Now the Monk understood Sokka's pain once he finally released him. He coughed a little and smiled up at him. "Now, I need you to wake your people up Tyro. I don't want to prolong this anymore than I already have."

Tyro agreed, and looked at the four guards who had so much hope in their eyes now. "Wake everyone up. Women and children will go first, then the elders, and the men. Go!" he ordered. They bowed to him and dashed down the hill as fast as they could without tripping and rolling down the hill.

"I will try and keep them calm for as long as possible, but it may be more difficult to control them. It will be like controlling cats and dogs here."

Aang knew what he meant about that; it was going to be difficult, but he had complete faith in the man and his people which he hoped would work. "Suki, Mai, Teo, and Toph, I am going to need you to do your best on crowd control just in case these people do go on the wild side. Zuko, every time the black poison comes out of their hands, I need to burn it to a crisp; grass and dirt so that there are no traces left. Katara, you already know what you have to do. Can you help me?" he pleaded with her, no longer caring about what happened an hour ago.

The blue eyed girl looked at him, with a little bit of worry in her eyes, but she agreed with him anyways. The Monk then went to his bag, and grabbed his old Fire Nation headband and tied it tightly around his arm to help make his veins pop out. Katara grabbed one of their bowls and went over to him. Aang began to flex his arms so that the blood could stop, and build up pressure in his blue veins.

"Toph." he said to her, "Do you think you can bend a very thin rock that is strong enough to puncture skin, but it can help leak out the blood from my skin?"

The Earthbender cracked her knuckles, "Can a blind girl take on seven types of Earthbender's at the same time?" she grinned crookedly and took off the space earth bracelet on her upper arm that Sokka gave to her. Once she formed a sharp point, she handed it to Suki who went to Aang's side. Katara looked down at his arms and saw all of his veins popping out of his skin so much, that she though they were about to explode. The Kyoshi Warrior lifted his arm a little to straighten it out, and concentrated on the crease of his arm and a certain blood vessel. Once she found it, she pushed it in as gently and forceful as she could, but Aang tensed up a little bit; but she hit the vein perfect, and now it was the Bloodbender's turn. She looked up at Aang who tried to relax himself against a rock behind him, and gave Katara the go-ahead. She looked down at the blood that was already coming out, and then the fear kicked in afraid and she began to doubt her ability to do it.

"I can't do this Aang. I swore to myself I would never mess with something like this again, and now you're asking me to do something that I hate so much that it scares me. The last time I used this, I almost killed an innocent man…"

The Monk took his back off of the rock, and grabbed her cool moisturized hands into his and he made her look at him. He could see that she was truly frightened to do this again, even though it was the only way and he had to help her. "You are not that same person anymore Katara. You are stronger, braver, and wiser than you think; but I can't do this without you. I need you to help me. You are the only one who will be able to know how much I can take out in order for me to live. I trust you, but I need you to trust yourself. You will _never_ be Hamma."

Katara starred at him, astonished at what he knew she was thinking; and the speech worked. She sucked in the air, and put her hands on Aang's inner soft arm. Her fingers glided over every bump along the way, and then she closed her eyes while she tapped into his blood. She could feel every muscle reacting to the way his heart beat, feeling the hot temperature of his blood and having the connection of every vein throughout his body. Katara opened her eyes, and began to draw blood from his arm as she made a perfect pathway down his arm and to his middle finger, where it dripped into the bowl. By the time they filled it up; a line of people began to form. And so, their night began.

OooooOooooOoooo

After about three hours of stopping Aang's blood and then reopening it back up to give more blood, he was becoming extremely tired and sore. He tried to keep himself occupied by counting the number of bowls he filled up, but after about 15 he had lost count. Katara was becoming very worried about him, because she didn't know how much longer he could keep doing this. She told him that they could finish tomorrow, but he said that it was a possibility that they could get infected again, and he didn't want to have to do this again; that was clear. Tyro talked to Aang a little, giving him water and fruits that they hadn't poisoned yet. He ate them with much gust, but it was becoming harder for him to eat as he grew more and more tired.

The Monk was happy to see that this village seemed much more cheery as everyone got better, but it was always hard to watch them when the venom came out of their blood while they screamed in horror. The young teenagers and children were strong, as well as some of the adults, but the elderly required more than Tyro needed, as well as some of the infants. It took them half of the day to get through to everyone, but he wasn't done quite yet.

"Katara." he said with his eyes half opened now, and she looked over at the tattooed boy. He looked so sick, and pale that he could easily be a Spirit. "The Gang will need this too…as well as you, and I'm sure you know this. Tell Toph, Suki, and then Mai to come next. After that, it'll be Sokka, Teo, Zuko, and then you." The Waterbender agreed to his orders and told everyone what they needed to do. They were all extremely tired after staying up all night, holding down people, and trying to keep them in order. Toph had been extremely good in that area, because if she felt one person step go out of line, she would shoot them back to the end of the line, _literally_. They feared her, and it was a good time for her to pull out her amazing charms. Everyone did as Aang asked, and they each took drops of blood into their new wounds. Luckily it wasn't as bad as Tyro's people were, but they definitely had the symptoms; they were all strong as they didn't scream or yell but fought back their tongues.

Once it was Zuko's turn, Aang asked him to sit next to him so that he could burn out the infection. The Monk barely had the strength to lift his finger up, but he was able to conjure up enough fire power to burn the grass and dirt. The Monk then fell onto the ground head first, with his eyes closing for a seconds. He had been feeling sick ever since they were only half way done with the town. Katara kept asking him the entire time if he was alright, but he would always lie to her in order to help them all, as well as he. He had to be strong, but since it was near the end finally, he just wanted to sleep. Aang felt cool hands lift him up, and then they traveled to his cheeks and then to his forehead.

"He's burning up." Katara said to Suki, while she put a wet cloth on his head. "I knew he was lying to me, but I didn't think it was this bad."

She gave her a crooked smile, "He seems to always want to protect others, but he doesn't know when to stop." Suki looked at her, but Katara was too worried as always. "He'll be okay. A few days sleep, and he will be back to normal."

Katara knew that she was trying to help her, but it wasn't working. "He hasn't been normal since he came back…nothing will ever be normal with him again."

The Kyoshi Warrior put a hand on her friend, "Since when have any of our lives have ever been normal with Aang in it?" she smiled again, and this time she got a response from the dark skinned girl. "Come on, I know Aang wouldn't want you to go on possibly sick right now."

Katara concurred, and took up the dagger that she now held out at her. She quickly sliced her left hand, and poured the rest of the red liquid from the bowl into her skin. Instantaneously, the blood was sucked into her cut like an elbow leech sucking you dry. There was some pain in the process, but it was nothing like Tyro or the others that she had seen. Katara had natural healing abilities, but it was better to be safe than sorry. At least that would be what Aang would want from her. Her eyes popped open in time to see Zuko burn the small drops out of her system, which there wasn't much there to begin with. However, she did feel far more energized and her waterbending felt very strong, almost more powerful than when the moon was full. Sokka and Teo helped her up, and her eyes went straight to Aang's spot, but he was no longer there.

"How long was I out?" she asked Sokka, who seemed to be in a good mood all of the sudden.

"About ten minutes. It was shorter, but that's because you're from the Water Tribe." he winked at her.

She grinned, "Is Aang okay?"

"I hope so. He was knocked out pretty good, and Suki said his fever was getting worse. Tyro took him to some healers who are good with herbs, and they will try to get him to eat or drink as much as they can." he said, but still saw agitation on her face. "It'll be okay, he's the Avatar for crying out loud! Remember, he had fast healing abilities too little Sis."

OooooOooooOoooo

The sun hit Aang's eyes hard with the sight of light brightening through his eyelids, which caused some pain. He stirred, feeling the soreness on his right arm, shoulders, and neck. He opened his eyes, and could see light glimmering off of what seemed like jewels on his body. The room smelt of many mixtures of flowers; some seemed familiar while others he wasn't quite sure about. The Airbender could hear what sounded like a celebration that was going on outside, but it wasn't to the point of him not being able to hear his own thoughts. His eyes traveled to his clothing, in which his Airbending clothes were taken off, but his Fire nation pants were still on. He kept looking around small stoned room, until his eyes came onto Katara, who was a leaning back in her chair. She was like a breath of fresh ocean air washed over him, and making it seem like he had just woken up from a dream.

The Monk got up on his elbows, still feeling his muscles on fire. His headache felt like Toph had just decided to smash a two ton rock on his head, and it hurt to blind even. "You know, we have to stop meeting like this. Me always in the bed and you somehow always seem to be watching over me." his voice was very dry, and a little horsy.

Katara moved off of her elbows, and looked at him. "Maybe next time you won't try and be a Hero again." She said, with more anger in it than she meant.

Aang removed the blankets that were on his legs, and then made his body to face Katara. He slowly got up with the help of his hands and legs, as he stretched out his aching body. "Yeah, well maybe next I'll just stop being the Avatar while I'm at it." he proclaimed, with the memory of Jet and her kissing now in the dark hole. He hadn't remembered it really, until she decided to act like a mother towards him right now. Yes, he loved her for it, but he didn't need it.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

The Airbender sighed, while his hand went over his bald head. "I know, you're right and I'm sorry. There, is that what me to say."

Katara got up, "Not really, but it's a start."

"For what?"

"Don't try and play it Aang. I know you're angry, and I don't blame you."

The Monk laughed in a confused manner and went over towards his pack; he rambled through his clothes and was happy to see that the necklace was still there mixed in. "What makes you think I'm angry?"

"You talk in your sleep…"

Aang smiled, but it wasn't in a laughing matter. "Well, then I guess you know everything about me then."

She nodded a little, and he could have sworn that a small diamond fell from her eyes. "I do, but you still surprise me."

"I could say the same about you." he said, while grabbing his Airbending clothes and put them on. The Waterbender eyed his every move, still amazed at his scars; the ones that Azula and Ozai left on him. The lightning strike was the still the biggest one in between his shoulders, and in a way it seemed like it still hurt him.

"I know that you're angry with me, and I know you have a right to—"

Aang turned around quickly once he got his clothes accentuated. "Oh I do, do I? Well I'm glad that I have earned that _right_ then." He didn't know what was going on with him, he wasn't angry at Katara, but at Jet. And yet he was treating her like the criminal, and it felt like he was losing control over his own emotions.

She felt her body go into a freeze mode suddenly, not sure if she was still breathing or not. "Okay I deserved that. But Aang, I need you to hear me out. Please."

"Why should I? You seemed pretty comfortable down there kissing Jet."

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, and then they went into what seemed like a stare off. "You gave me the option to go down there Aang, you were the one who said that the people were above us, and you are right. And you know what Aang, I don't regret it anymore. I figured you of all people would understand, or at least listen to my side of the story but you won't even let me."

That hit Aang so hard, that it felt like he landed on his back and got the wind knocked out of him. But he couldn't show him losing, so gave her a comeback. "I know what I saw Katara, and there is nothing to explain. And if you don't regret it, then do you want this to be over with us then? Is that what you're telling me?"

She parted her mouth, shocked that he would even suggest that at all. Katara never wanted it to end, and she knew that he didn't either. So why did he suggest it?

"You don't mean that, do you?" she whispered, afraid to even hear her own voice.

"Well you seem pretty comfortable kissing Jet that it must have been pretty easy to forget about me."

He was hurting her, and it seemed like he wasn't regretting his words at all like he normally would. "Do you even want to know my side?"

"You kissed him!" he spelled it out for her, "What more is there to know about?"

_Knock, knock._ They both looked over at the door to see Toph walk in. "Everything cool with you two love monkeys?"

Katara wiped a tear away quickly, "Yes…it's over now." she looked at him, and he knew what she meant. Four and a half days, plus however long he had been out and that was it. Their relationship was over, and it was his fault…as always. Katara walked out, and Aang tried to follow, but the Earthbender grabbed his arm tighter than necessary.

"Let her go; let her be. She just needs some space."

"Seems that's what always separates us, and yet when I have her I still do something wrong."

"It's called being a _guy_. You guys are all the same, but sometimes we are wrong too…however, this time it is definitely your fault."

"Oh yeah, why is that?"

"If you truly can't see how much that girl truly loves you, then you are as dumb as a rock itself. And I have had my fair share of stones Twinkle Toes; but that girl is crazy about you. As much as it makes me want to throw up at the sight of you two together, it'll be even worse if I have to hear her talking to me the whole time about you. I would rather be deaf than to listen to her again. I just hope it's not too late to grovel at her feet."

This made Aang grin a little, and an idea came to his head, in which he hoped that it would be a good attempt to fix the best thing that had ever happened with Katara and him. "Where is Sokka?"

"Why, do you want to be on death warrant now?"

"I already have one with Katara, but it's about time I told Sokka."

"What?" she released his arm finally, allowing the blood to flow finally back into his body. "Tell him that you hurt her again? You know that means I'll win the bet."

Aang went through his pack on last time, pulled out the betrothal necklace and then walked past her. "Then I guess that you have got nothing to lose then." He said, and walked through a couple of halls until he finally got to the Gang sitting down, except Katara wasn't there. He sighed with a little bit of relief, and went straight to her brother who had his white bladed sword out, and was sharpening it once again. Two seconds ago this seemed like a good idea, but now he wasn't too sure if it was. Aang was willing to give his life for these people, and yet he couldn't talk to his best friend. He inhaled the warm sky air, and walked to him.

"Sokka, we need to talk." he said, in which made him stop his activities. "Alone."

The older brother raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged it off. "Sure." he said, and then placed the sword back into his sheath and put it onto his back. They walked out of the house, with all of the eyes burning on Aang's back. The young men both walked a few miles past town, until finally it seemed like a good spot.

"So, what did you drag me all the way out here for that you don't want anyone else to know about?"

The Airbender licked his dry lips, forgetting how thirsty he had been and still was. "I need to have a talk about _girls_."

"Oh—well you have come to the right guy my friend. So what do you need from me?"

"Honestly…I want your forgiveness."

Sokka placed his hands on his hips, "Well that's a good start, but what did you do necessarily?"

This was it, all that he had feared of Sokka was about to come true. The bets were all coming into his head now, and no matter the odds, someone was going to go missing tonight. "It's about Katara, Sokka." he said, but her brother didn't change his look at all. "We—she and I—we were dating each other behind your back."

**So, I know this chapter seemed like a whole Zombie type deal where someone's blood is the cure, but I didn't mean to make it that way. And I'm sure I'll get criticized for it, but oh well. You have good chapters and bad ones. Okay, so I stole some riddles from people...I know I said that I don't do that, but to put it lightly, I SUCK with riddles. Hopefully, though you enjoyed them. I figured it would be fun for you guys to try and figure it out.**

**I hope I surprised you all with the resurrection of Jet! I thought that he should get a spinoff in my story, and he has changed a lot (literally). But the question is, can he be trusted? He seems to want to mess with Aang, and hurt him, but he proclaims to Katara that he is not one of them.**

**Also, just a heads up: since Aang is FINALLY going to talk to Sokka, there will be a Bromance in the next one for all of you guys out there. So what is Sokka going to do to him, once Aang tells the truth? Hmm? Will he be able to fix everything with Katara? I know I put a lot of drama in this chapter, but someone asked for a fight between Aang and Katara so there you go. And the kissing scene with Jet and Katara...sorry KatAang Fans! I just had to add more to the story in order to spice things up a bit more!**

**Okay, so you guys and gals know what to do now! Review/Comment me, or e-mail me if you so desire to! I do read them ALL, and I will try and get back to you ASAP!**

**Peace and Love Avatards **


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi everyone, long time no talk lol. Well first off I'm sorry that it took me a while to get Chapter 20 up, but I had a ton of test, papers, and midterms that just kicked my butt. When I had free time, I would write, but it wasn't too often. =( anyways, thank you guys (who are still with me) for reading my work, and also for the new comers as well, welcome! Thank you ALL so very much! Sorry for any bad grammar or mispelled words.**

**I don't own anything of A:TLA, so please enjoy. Aang just told Sokka of Katara and his relationship, and now back to it...**

Sokka just stood there almost dumbfounded, but he didn't say a single word to the Airbender that stood before him. Aang still looked exhausted with the purple underneath his eyes that had become even darker, due to the fact that he hadn't gotten enough rest for his body to produce more blood. It had only been six hours since he woke up, and it almost seemed like sleep was not something for him anymore. When they were traveling a couple of years ago, he would take naps, sleep longer hours than him sometimes, and now it was like he was sleep deprived. Sokka's hand right hand lifted to the hilt of his sword so slowly, it was like he was counting in his head how long it took him to grab the sharp weapon.

Aang saw him reach for it, and he felt his entire body tense up. _"Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all."_ he thought to himself, as he instantly heard the sword come out of its sheath. The morning suns light bounced off of the glistening weapon and blinding Aang for a few seconds. When he opened up his eyes, he could see spots every time he blinked, but Sokka had his swords tip facing the ground now.

"I think you must have lost too much blood Aang, because I could have sworn that you said that _"you two were dating"_ as in 'past tense'."

The Monk surrendered too easily, but he was tired of keeping this secret from him even if he and Katara aren't together anymore. "Yes…we _were_ dating, and now it's over with. I screwed up, and I don't know how to get her back after what I just said to her."

Sokka raised his sword onto his right shoulder, and let it rest there. "So, why are you telling me this _now_? You could've kept it a secret, and I would have never known." Katara's brother said lying to him. He was very surprised that they both were able to keep themselves from flaunting in front of the Gang, let alone him. The Warrior knew how hard it would be for him to show no affection for Suki, and he wondered how hard it truly must have been for Aang to keep his distance from Katara with himself around them half the time.

The Air Nomad put his hands in his Fire Nation's pants pocket, where his eyes showed more interest in the small, blue and green striped lady butterfly at his feet. His headache felt like someone was squeezing his head together, and the light wasn't helping in the least bit. He was exhausted, and obviously wasn't thinking straight since he decided to do this. Toph was right, but it just felt like it would be better for him to tell the truth to his best friend. He had procrastinated long enough, and he just needed to tell Sokka. He just needed to talk to someone else.

"I don't know why I'm telling you _now_…guilt over what I did, the fact that we haven't really been best of friends since I left, or maybe it's just the sleep talking; either way, I'm telling you now, because I have to win her back—once again." The suns rays were burning at the tattooed boys back, but there was a very small breeze that seemed to cool him off for a few seconds.

Sokka smirked a little, but it quickly disappeared as he put on a more serious mask. "I warned you not to date her." he said while pointing the sword at him, "I told you that if you _ever_ did get with her, that there would be serious consequences; and yet you're telling me that you were with her behind my back. _And_ that you broke my Sister's heart once again!"

The way Sokka said it in that way, made him want to run and hide from him, but he had to stand his ground; like a rock as Toph would say."Okay, you know what Sokka; if you are going to kill me you might as well do it now. I'm exhausted, and I barely had the strength to walk here with you. _So_ go for it, I give you a Free Pass." Aang proclaimed, and just sat down on the ground hard. He could feel the softness of the green grass in between his fingers, but his eyes gray eyes never left Sokka.

The Water Tribe Warrior took a few steps to him, until he was within a swords length. He could easily strike him, or do something to him, but he just couldn't. His face showed so many burdens, confusion, pain, and the loss of someone he loved more than himself. Aang looked like he did when he lost Yue during the siege of the Northern Water Tribe. He knew that if someone burned him alive, he would still not be able to feel the burning sensations, due to the numbness that Aang felt right now. Nothing scared him, happiness wasn't his friend, and being alone only drove him insane.

Sokka sighed, and raised his sword high and brought it down to the ground hard. The hilt stood standing up, and it confused Aang. "I'm in a good mood…on another day I would have killed you." he said, and then sat down next to his bud. They didn't say too much for the first few minutes, as their eyes gazed at their surroundings; big trees that were giving shade to mixed animals, to the sky with no clouds at all, and even back down to the sword that pierced into the Earth. The Monk was proud that Sokka took very good care of the gift he gave him, and he seemed to value it more than the _Space Sword_ that Sokka had made himself.

"Why didn't you attack me, beat me up, or just kill me. I just told you that I was with Katara behind your back, and you just found out that I hurt her again. You're supposed to smite me by your wrath or something at least!" Aang instructed him to do, not really knowing why he said it again, but he had been preparing himself for Sokka to do something that involved him begging for his life. It was driving the tattooed boy crazy, and he would rather deal with it now, instead of later.

Katara's brother seemed very amused by the ideas, but just shrugged at his old friend. "Maybe, I have finally learned to let Katara be with who ever she wants to be with. She says she doesn't need me to protect her, and she's right. She is all grown up now, and I need to let her make her own decisions and mistakes. I need to let her find her own way out of situations, instead of acting like the big brother all of the time."

"But you are her big brother. Isn't that like your job or something?"

"There is a code; however, if you haven't noticed already, she doesn't need me anymore." he said, meaning every word in the saddest form Aang had ever seen. He could see that Sokka didn't like that his baby sister needed him anymore, and that he truly loved her.

The Airbender shook his head, "She may be able to take care of herself, but you two will _always_ need each other. Katara wouldn't be who she was if she didn't have a brother like you around; and she needs you still, but it may not be in the same way that you want."

"Aang, she has never needed me. She knows how to Waterbend like no one I have ever seen, and what use am I too her if not in a fight?"

The Monk looked at him, "look Sokka…I don't know what it's like to have an older brother or sister in my life. I was raised around Monks, and young Airbender's that I wasn't related to, and I always wondered what it would be like. And when I see you guys together, I see that you two would give each others life in order for the other to live. You have always got each others backs, and you two are family." he rambled on, but Sokka was paying very close attention to every word that flowed out of his mouth. "In this day and age, Family is all that you can rely on. When your Mom died, and your Dad left, you were all she had left Sokka besides Gran Gran. I think she will always need you, no matter the challenge." Aang finished with a grin, and saw the man's eyes water a little bit.

"You know," he began and wiped his nose onto his blue long sleeve shirt. "If you ever tell her about this, then I will drive that sword into your chest. You got that?"

"There's the Sokka that I remember." This made them both laugh a little, and then Aang said, "You shouldn't be ashamed of it though; however, I promise I won't say anything. But I wish that I could have what you two have though."

"Yeah…it must have been hard growing up without parents or siblings around you?"

The Airbender nodded a little, but he still showed some spirit. "Sometimes it was…when I was four or five; I used to always ask Gyatso about whom my parents were and if I had any brother or sisters who were Airbender's. He told me that he didn't know, and it would make me cry. He would allow me to skip my lessons with him as I stayed in my room, and then he would come in and comfort me. I couldn't have asked for anyone else to have raised me better than Monk Gyatso; he became my mentor, best friend, and then my father. But when I look at you and Katara, I still wonder what I was missing out on."

"Well—for starters, there is a ton of yelling, being told that you need to do your own laundry, never get her angry, don't _ever _retaliate with her, stay far away from her when it's that time of the month, you will always lose in an argument, and never have a snowball fight with her." he added, and the Monk could tell that there was a story behind the snowball fight.

Aang chuckled, "Wanna trade your life for mine?" he joked, in which made Sokka grin. However, if the gray eyed boy had a choice in choosing a different life, he wondered if he would take it. He easily dismissed it though, because he would have never met all of the wonderful friends that he has right now, or the girl that he desperately wanted to marry.

"Nah, I think being the Avatar is hard enough. And that was one of the reasons that I never wanted her to be with you, even though you are perfect for her."

The pale boys' eyebrows formed in the middle, giving Sokka a baffled look. "What do you mean?"

Sokka wrapped his arms around his knees, so he could help his sore lower back muscles out some. "I mean, don't take this the wrong way Aang, but your duty as the Avatar will always be your priority. Even in marriage, the man places his wife above himself and his family. And, I'm just not sure if you will be able to do that for her."

The Monk moved his head up and down very slowly, recalling what just happened last night with Katara. He was so cruel to her, and told her that the people were his number one priority and that _they_ would have to wait. He remembered the hurt on her face, and the way she took those words to heart.

"Maybe your right."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Sokka said in a surprised tone, that not even he understood. He figured that Aang would defend himself at least, but he just laid his playing card on the table.

"Maybe—maybe I can't ever do that for her…" he said. Sokka just slapped him on the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for, I just agreed with you!" Aang rubbed his head, which felt like two rocks were grinding up against his brain.

"Your not suppose to agree with me you idiot!"

"But it's true though!" Again, Sokka smacked him on the head even harder than last time. The Monk's pain increased, "Do that again Sokka, and you'll get a beating that my head is receiving right now!"

"How can you say that? I thought you loved my sister?"

Aang released the hot air in his body, and rubbed his temples. "Of course I do Sokka." The Airbender braced himself for another hit, but Sokka didn't. He looked at him, "So you will let me say that I love your sister, but when I say it would be better for her not to be with me, you hit me."

"Would you like me to do that?" he questioned, ready to hit him again.

Aang raised both of his hands up to stop him, "No, no, no, no! I get enough punches from Toph, Katara, and now you."

Suddenly a snicker slipped out of Sokka's mouth, as he tried desperately to hold back his smile. "Wait, _Katara_ hit you? Wow, she is far better than I thought. When did she hit you?"

"It's not funny man…and she punched me only once and then slapped me not that long ago."

"Ha! Finally! There is a dark side to Katara, and she's definitely got my Mom and Dads genes in her!" he smiled widely, and this time let his laughter echo to the sky.

"She's got a great right hook, _and_ she made me bleed too!" Aang said, and then they both howled out in laughter. For a few minutes, it seemed like it was like the good times all over again, while they chuckled until their sides hurt and Katara's brother had tears flowing from his eyes; finally everything started to get quiet between them until it was silenced completely.

"…how am I going to get her back Sokka? I screwed up _once_ again, and she tried to explain it, but I _never_ listen. Why do I do that?" Aang asked, while placing his hand behind him and leaned back while his eyes looked up to the blue skies for answers.

"Are you actually asking me now, because you know that I am the Master of screw ups."

Aang's right lip curled up, "Yes, for once I need you to truly help me on this issue."

"Well," he began, and popped his knuckles, "first and foremost, you HAVE to apologize." Aang was about to say something, but Sokka continued on. "No matter what, whose fault it is, even _if_ it's hers, she is _always_ right about everything! No matter if she is wrong!"

"But that's so stupid! That's like saying this grass is blue, when if fact it is green!"

Sokka raised his palms up to the sky, "Look man, I didn't make up the rules, but that is just how it goes. Or so I have learned anyways."

Aang grunted in frustration, "Well, what if I say part of it is my fault, but it's mostly because of what she did?"

Sokka leaned his head towards the right in confusion, "What did Katara do that is making you not go right now and ask for her forgiveness? Not that I don't mind the waiting, but still."

The Airbender looked down at orange and yellow Airbending clothes, and then his hands started picking at the grass. He pulled on out, then another, and then another until he was absolutely ready to tell him. Aang knew he would be just as angry as he was, but then again Sokka, might actually go and kill the guy himself; Assassin or not.

"Well…I sorda saw Katara—kissing J-Jet."

It was quiet at first, and then suddenly Sokka started laughing so hard that he fell on his back and continued. Once he composed himself a little, he looked at Aang and said, "That was a great joke Aang, but seriously what's going on?" The Monk didn't break a smile, but just starred at his friend.

"No…there is no way…there's no way in Hell or Heaven she'd do that! No way!" Sokka said, and grabbed at Aang's clothing to jerk him in front of his face. The Airbender saw the hate and anger in his eyes, and suddenly saw Jet dying at his sword in chains. Aang quickly changed his story.

"Ha!" the bald Monk tried to play off, "Guess I am better liar than you thought." he smiled, and Sokka let go of his friend. He laughed a little bit, but not like he did before.

"Don't do that again man, you almost made me get Toph and go down there myself! However, it wouldn't have mattered if she did kiss him, because you two kids are goo-goo eyes for each other."

This intrigued Aang, "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on Aang! Do you really think that _my_ Sister would choose Jet over _you_? That is something totally impossible!"

"But what about Higen? There must have been something there?" he asked urgently, because he was very curious at what happened with him.

Sokka shook his head, "Higen is a nice guy and all, but he was never you. She was with him…because she was lonely. Katara felt awful after learning how he truly felt about her, and that was about the time you came back. She liked Higen's company, but never anything else. I know exactly how she felt."

Aang understood instantly, "Yue…" Sokka just nodded. "But you didn't seem like it?"

He smirked a little, "It's called trying to be the bigger and better person. I was trying to be strong for Katara and you, but it was eating me up on the inside. A couple of weeks—that's how long it took me to fall in love with her; and when she died…it felt like it was my fault."

"But you know it wasn't." Aang declared, hoping that Sokka would always remember that.

Sokka's eyes began to water a little, but then acted like something was in his eye and scratched it. "I know, but it's easier to blame yourself when you're the one who lived through it. I don't regret my time with Yue, and I am _so_ grateful to have met her, and to have had the honor of falling in love with her." he smiled, and then his thoughts went to Suki. The woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with, and he was proud to be the only man in her life now. "Did I tell you that she came to me in a dream?"

Aang shook his head, not really sure if it was really her or not, but Guru Pathik did say that Spirits will come to you when the time is right. "Really, when?"

"When we crossed the Serpents Pass. That was the same day that I started to have feelings for Suki, but I tried to deny them." He kind of chuckled, "Did I tell you that she tried to kiss me, but I kind of rejected her?"

Aang shook his head again, a little shocked that he would do such a thing to Suki. "But I thought that you liked her?"

"I did, but it felt like it was too soon. I know I was only sixteen, but you aren't supposed to like someone that quickly after someone you love died. I was afraid that I couldn't protect her either, so I denied the happiness that I wanted. I knew that I would hurt Suki, and it hurt me greatly too. But that very night, Yue came to me."

"What did she say?"

He half smiled, "She told me that she wanted me to move on with my life. Not to just sit down and indulge in the past, but to open my arms to the future. Yue said that she helped bring Suki and I back together, because she could see that I liked her…a lot. And she was so happy for me, Aang! She told me that she could not have asked for a better woman to be in my life than Suki. She said that Suki had a gentle heart, but was not afraid to fight when it was necessary. Yue wanted me to have a blessed life, and she said that she would always be with me, _but_ only as a Spirit and a friend."

Aang was taken aback by all that Yue had told him in this particular dream, and he was pretty sure now that it wasn't just a made up dream, which he seemed to have a lot of the times. But what really stuck out to him the most was when Sokka _said don't just sit down and indulge in the past, but to open your arms to the future_. The Avatar had been so focused on things of the past with Katara, that it had blinded him to how much she loved him. Everyone else to could see it better than he did, and this whole time he felt like someone had just pulled the wool over his eyes for so long that he never saw what was coming. And _now_, it felt like he could see for the first time! Everything around him seemed so much clearer, and now he didn't care why she kissed Jet, all he knew was that he wanted to be with her. And if it means that he will try and fix their relationship for the rest of his life, then so be it…but his own death may come sooner than he expects. That scared Aang, but if the time ever came for him to tell her the truth, then he would do anything and everything to protect her.

The tired pale boy breathed in the warm air, and exhaled it out. "Why did you propose to Suki when you didn't have a betrothal necklace?"

The Warrior shrugged, "Have you seen my artistic abilities? I couldn't do it to save my life!"

This did make Aang's serious face turn into a grin, "Okay, I'll give you that. But isn't that how it is supposed to be done in the Water Tribe?"

"Of course it is, and I'm working on it…sorda. But we had discussed it, and she didn't care. She just wanted to be with me for forever, but I will give her one. Just may need a little extra time that's all."

"Have you set a date?"

"Nah, we both were willing to hold off in order to help you on your Quest, and we are both okay with it. At least I think we are…why did you want to know?" he questioned at Aang's motives.

The Monk licked his chapped lips, and reached into his right pocket. Sokka saw this, and wasn't for sure what he was about to show him. "Open up your hand."

Sokka lifted an eyebrow, "There's not a bug in there, is there? Toph knows how much I hate them, and she always does that to me."

Aang giggled a little bit, and tossed the object in the air towards him. When he caught it, he was completely amazed at the effort that went into the dark blue lace. The way the light would catch off of the clear circle, and the light blue Water, as well as the three white Airbending symbols. A _lot_ of hard work was put into this, and it was better than any that he had ever seen before.

"Umm…I hate to tell you this Aang, but I am already engaged." Sokka joked to his bald friend.

Aang laughed and pushed his friend to the ground, "Well then you'll be happy to know that you're not my type then, no offense."

"Hey, I'm good with that! Who is this for?" he asked, not that he didn't already know, but still wanted to hear why he was showing it to him.

"Katara. I figured, that you deserved to know about this first…well third at least."

"_Third_?" he yelled.

'Whoa, easy Sokka. Toph and Teo found it on a day I really don't like to remember, but I thought that you should be the first official person that _I_ tell this to."

Sokka seemed a little bit satisfied. "Oh, well they don't count then! How long have you had this thing?" he said still examining it, and seeing the craftsmanship put into it.

"…since I left." he said sadly, "I had everything I needed, but it wasn't finished."

Sokka had his mouth opened, "For a one year and some odd number of months, _you_ have had this! When were you going to tell me?"

"Honestly, I wasn't at first because, I wasn't going to go through with it."

"What, why?"

"Complications…but when I came back, and I saw her…I knew I couldn't live without her anymore. However, I'm not going to ask her yet, just in case you're wondering."

"Then—why did you show it to me?" he asked with so much more confusion on his face.

"You are my best friend Sokka; I wanted to tell _you_ before her Father, because I guess I want the 'brotherly blessing' from you. And I want you to be my best man when that day comes." _Or if it will ever come_, he thought to himself.

Instantly, his eyes sparked up like a little kid finding a baby penguin. "Well—I guess I wouldn't want to deny the honor in doing this for you, so I have no choice but to accept. However, I must ask you something."

"What?" Aang questioned him happily.

"Are you sure that you are willing to be with a girl, like Katara; who is going to yell at you if you don't clean your own socks, who will get hostile if you get sexist with her, or the fact that she may freeze your entire body if you make her angry?"

To most normal guys this might have scared them, but it only made Aang love Katara even more. "Well, let me ask you this. Do you still want to marry Suki, despite the fact that she can kick your Water Tribe butt?"

Sokka gave him a crooked smile, and tossed back the necklace, "Touché Aang, touché. Well it's your funeral man, but you have my blessings anyways. However, you should know that I will kill you if EVER cheat on her while being married to Katara!" he threatened, and this time he got up and took his sword out of the ground. He placed the end at his throat, and Aang felt a slight pinch of pain.

"What happened to not being so protective all of the time? Letting her grow up?"

Sokka dropped his sword from Aang's neck and placed it back into his sheath. "This is a whole 'nother deal with it comes to marriage…still wanna marry her?"

Aang gave him the best smile he could give, "She's worth it, whether you want to be my Brother-In-Law or not."

The Water Tribe Warrior nodded his head, and held out his left hand for Aang. The Airbender took it, and his friend pulled him up off of the ground. Aang had never noticed until now that his bottom had gone completely numb, and his legs didn't help him much either; his bottom half felt like small needles were piercing against the inside of his skin. He let go of his arm, and placed the necklace safely back into his black pants.

"Sokka, I need to ask for a favor…well more of a promise I want you to make to me."

"Sure, anything." he asked, as he quickly heard a change in the Avatar's tone from being all happy to being completely serious.

Aang sighed, and placed his hands on his hips. "If there was ever a time where our friends or your sister's life was at stake, you would do whatever it takes to spare theirs, right?" Sokka didn't hesitate as he nodded, but was becoming puzzled at this promise he just made without even considering it. The Air Nomad continued "promise me that you will _always_ choose their life over mine; no matter what, you must protect them, no matter the consequences."

Now Sokka was even more bewildered, because it seemed like Aang was asking him to choose Suki, Katara, and his life long friends over Aang's own life. Sokka knew who he would choose in the end, but at the same time he wasn't sure if he could really do it. But Aang was probably just saying that since they are in a war, and the Monk was just making sure that he would do everything he could to protect them. However, Sokka would do his best to protect his friends and family, no matter what too.

"Of course I would Aang, you know that."

"Swear it to me Sokka. Swear it on your Mother's name, that no matter _what_ you will choose Katara, Suki, Toph, Teo, Mai, and Zuko." he paused in between each name, as if he was praying for their souls to be saved. Aang knew he shouldn't ask this of Sokka, but if he swore it to his Mother, then he would never be able to back out of it. He held out his right arm to him, so that it would be official.

"Aang—" he remarked, and looked down at Aang's tattooed hand that was held out towards him.

"Swear it. I need you to say it to me…please Sokka." he pleaded with his old friend.

Sokka gulped his fear down, as he looked at Aang who was so determined for him to make this promise to him. The choice seemed so easy, but Aang was making seem like something was going to happen to him, and soon. He looked back down at his hand, and embraced his forearm tightly as he looked back up at the grown up Avatar.

"I swear to my Mother, Kya that I will _always_ choose them over you. I will _always_ protect them, even if someone must die by my sword for that to happen." Sokka proclaimed, feeling as though he just signed Aang's death in his own blood.

Aang nodded, and grinned in a pleased manner, but fear was still in his gray eyes. He let go of his friends arm and said, "I know I'm not making any sense right now, but thank you Sokka. I know you won't let me down. And now, I must ask you to do something else for me."

"If it involves swearing something to my Mother, then no thanks."

Aang laughed half heartedly, "No, umm…actually, it's just a small favor. I need you to give me a black eye."

Sokka's face was priceless to Aang, as he just stood there dumbfounded. "You want _ME_, to punch you in the EYE? Why?"

"Let's just say that someone is going to lose a bet, and this is the only way to do it. Plus, I'm sure that I deserve it anyways from you, because of something I did in the past or what I will do in the future."

The Warrior rubbed the back of his neck, as if he had a knotted muscle that was messing with him. "Well you can't just simply ask me! You have to make get angry first!"

"Well how do I do that?"

"Hmm…" Sokka pondered while rubbing his chin. And then a light flickered in his eyes, "Tell me some things you have done with my sister, even though I will most likely want to throw up after hearing it."

"What? No way! Why can't you just hit me?"

"Because I'm not infuriated by your presence anymore! I need something to spark that anger in me. And the thought of you—well doing something with Katara will make me mad enough. So give it a try."

Aang rolled his eyes and sighed feeling the cool wind on his back, with the suns rays hitting him hard. He closed his eyes, and imagined looking into those blue ocean eyes of hers. He felt his lip slowly curl up into a smile. Suddenly, he felt the bones of knuckles hit his face so hard, he was sure every Avatar felt it. At first there was no pain, but within a split second his right eye felt like someone's thumb was pressing up against his eyes, and his headache returned with a vengeance. He yelled out in pain, not even realizing that he was on the ground. Aang covered up his hurt eye, and opened the other to look up at Sokka.

"There." Sokka said, satisfied as he straightened out his blue tunic. "I think that'll do the trick." and then he held out his hand, in which Aang took.

The Monk sucked in air through his teeth, "I didn't think you would hit me so quickly; I didn't even say anything!"

"Actions speak louder than words. When I saw you smile, my mind instantly went into fast mode of what you two have could have done behind my back, and it was enough for me to hit you as hard as I possibly could. Do I need to try again?

"No, No!" he said, holding his hand out to block him. "No, I think you made my eye go to the back of my brain, it will be proof enough. Now, if you will excuse me I have to go." And with that, he walked past Sokka and started heading towards the village again.

"I hope you're going to talk to my sister!" he yelled as loud as he could, and Aang just waved at him which just made Sokka smile; knowing that that was where he was going. Katara's Brother let him walk ahead of him for a few minutes, as he could see that his pal needed some time to himself to think of his next move.

Sokka went over in his head about what just happened before he punched him, and it freaked him out a little as he saw the way Aang's eyes changed, from them talking about love and marriage, to taking someone's in order to protect their new family. The Airbender knew something that he didn't and whatever it was, it scared him enough to ask Sokka to do this. Aang was no longer a little kid to him anymore; he had changed so much in the time of his disappearance, and sometimes it seemed like Aang had two different sides of him. Sokka watched the bald boy who had the weight of the World on his shoulders, and it only seemed to be getting heavier on him. The Warrior regrettably wished that he didn't make that promise to his friend, because it sounded like Aang _wanted_ him to take his life.

OooooOooooOoooo

It didn't take long for Aang to find Katara at all, because he knew where she went if she was ever angry or upset. There was a lake of water that was small, just south of the village, but big enough for someone to practice waterbending. She was back in her white bathing suit, and yet she seemed so calmer and more at peace than the water as she called upon it. The Airbender just leaned up against a tree and watched her, with the eye that wasn't completely shut, and just stood there in awe of her. It had been so long since he had attempted to waterbend again, and perhaps he was in need of a new lesson too. It felt like centuries since he had trained with Katara, and even though he knew a lot of skills, he still felt a little rusty. But he didn't want to interrupt her, so he kept his distance and watched the flow of her dark tan body.

Katara danced her way through the water, in which it obeyed her every command. It was a sight in which Aang had forgotten. When she was in the water she was free with no problems of the world to concern her with; the water just _flowed_ off of her. Then half of the lakes water was summoned up to the skies, and a memory flashed to him; it was when he and Katara both tried to learn Waterbending on their own.

_Aang was so excited to be learning how to Waterbend with Katara. They had enough open space, and a gigantic waterfall to do just about anything they wanted. His crush on the Waterbender had grown stronger for her, and he really wanted to impress her with his skills; even though he really didn't know how well he would do it. However, Sokka and Katara told him that he was powerful enough to twist himself in water, and that this should be pretty easy for him. Air was the absolute easiest, and as for water he wasn't too sure that. _

_The Monk sat down with his legs crossed and listened to Katara so as not to screw up, or embarrass himself in front of her. She separated her feet a little wider than her shoulders and faced the water while trying to give Aang some instructions. _

"_This is a pretty basic move," she began, and started moving her body as if she were a wave of the ocean. "It took me months to perfect, so don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away. Just push, and pull the water like this; the key is to getting the wrist movement right." She said, and the liquid obeyed her bodies command, and Aang was pretty impressed that she had learned how to do this on her own. Today was going to be his chance to prove to her that he was good enough to do it; he got up, and did the same stance and got into the same stance as hers. _

_He looked over at her one more time, and got into her rhythm. "Like this?" he asked anxiously, but nothing was happening to the water. _

_Katara looked over, still in motion with the liquid at her feet. She didn't expect him to get it too quickly, and she knew that she was going to have to give him some time to adjust. "That's almost right. If keep practicing, I'm sure—"_

_Aang's eyes got big, "Hey, I'm bending it all ready!" he proclaimed happily, knowing that his wave was just as big as Katara's and he only did it within just a few seconds. _

_This surprised her a little, "Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly…it took me two months to learn that move." She admitted out loud, and was a little bit sad about it. _

_The twelve year old Monk saw the look on her face, and knew he did something wrong as he quickly dropped the water. "Well you had to figure it out all on your own. I'm lucky to have a great teacher." He hoped it would help, and it did. _

_She smiled, and agreed with him to herself. "Thanks."_

"_So, what's next?" he asked anxiously, ready to learn more._

"_This is a more difficult move. I call it 'Streaming the Water.'" Katara got into a simpler stance, and raised both of her hands up. A small _stream_ of water flowed to her hands, as if it was somehow attached to a string. Once she got control of it, and brought it to herself she said, "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if—" and she stopped as she saw Aang doing the same thing. However, he did it very gracefully, and much faster than she thought he could do. The Monk began to play with it, making the blue liquid go up and down, straightening it, and it was starting to make Katara become a little jealous as the water that she held, dropped back to it original spot. Aang played with it for a few more seconds longer, spun his body once, and then twisted the water back down into the water, without disturbing the calm water._

_Again she was shocked, "Nice work. Though the over the head flare was unnecessary." She said, with a little bit of envy that escaped her voice. Aang had pretty much caught up to her skill level, and she had to try something else; something that was too hard for even her to attempt. _

_The Airbender looked down, knowing that he might have shown off a little bit too much. "Sorry. Well don't stop now, keep them coming." he said, still enthused to prove to her how good he was. _

_Luckily, an idea popped in her head just in time. "Well I kind of know this one other move. But it's pretty hard; I haven't even totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a _big_, powerful wave." she said, and turned towards the water with a vengeance to do it right this time. Her legs were spread out, and her hands were raised above her head this time. She focused as hard as she could, trying to connect to the water. Aang could see the look of determination on her face, with her eyebrows coming together with a vein popping out in the middle of her forehead. Katara raised her hands even higher, hoping to get it right, but the water just ended up popping. And when that happened, it was like a weight dropped off of her, and only her frustration was being held on her shoulders. _

_The Monk smiled, "So…like this?" he said, and did the exact move as Katara. The water obeyed his demand easily, and the wave reached the half point of the water fall. Unfortunately, it was too much water, and the next thing they both heard was a panicking Sokka. _

_Sokka's eyes got huge, as the water began to fall on top of him and Appa. "Aaaaaang!" and then the water hit him hard, throwing him off of the Bison's stomach. Appa didn't seem to mind it in the least bit, but Sokka's face came only half way up and he knew he was mad. _

_Aang, however, was very proud of himself. He seemed to be doing a good enough job, that he was absolutely sure that she would be impressed. "Looks like I got the hang of that move. What else you got?"_

_Katara's jealousy was all over her face, but she turned so that Aang couldn't see it. "That's enough practicing for today."_

The Airbender grinned at the memory, while Katara seemed to be wrapping everything up at the lake. Her hair was straight down, and still a little wet in which she didn't seem to mind in the least bit. His thoughts went back to the past, wishing he had known what Katara was thinking because, he felt like such a jerk when he seemed to be doing better than her. She even yelled at him, after she stole the Waterbending Scroll, and he had no problem 'teaching' her how to do it. In response she yelled at him, and that was the first time she really made him want to cry, and he felt absolutely terrible for what he did. She did apologize to him, but he learned his lesson that day. Never, _ever_, get ahead of Katara on anything.

By about the time he looked back up, the blue eyed girl was back in uniform, but her boots were still off to the side. She sat along side the water, with just her feet in it. She starred at the trees before her, and it made him wish that he knew what she was thinking about. He didn't know how he was going to win this "conversation," but he wasn't going to win it out of pity. If she saw his black eye, which was shut completely now, then it wouldn't be right. He was going to have to sit on the left side of her, so as not to draw attention to it. Aang took a deep breath and walked over towards her, and stopped behind her. He could tell that her eyes were shut, and it almost seemed like she was meditating. Aang had taught her a few tricks about it, but never thought that she would actually put it into practice.

"May I join you?" he said quietly, as if the water would shake if he talked too loud.

Katara didn't open her eyes. She knew that Aang had been watching her, and she wasn't going to talk to him. It was childish to do, but Aang had said enough to her today. He was the Avatar, and their relationship was worth nothing apparently. The Monk took the hint, and sat on the left side of her; giving her plenty of space between them.

She didn't even acknowledge his presence, and that made it hurt even more. He knew what he said to her this morning was cruel, and he didn't know how he was going to fix it. He could tell that the reason why he said it was because, he was afraid of losing her; or killing her. He knew her fate, and if she was with him, then he knew it would come true. That seemed like the only plausible thing to say…but he couldn't.

He breathed out hot air as he licked his dry lips and looked at his reflection. Aang saw a scared little kid, with a black eye. He could see that he was very pale, his baggy eyes had darkened, and it made his blue arrows stand out even more. Aang could also see the evil inside of him, and how it was growing in him. He wasn't a sweet and innocent kid anymore, whose only mission was to defeat Ozai, and Master all four elements. No, he wasn't that same person anymore. He had grown up, he had changed, and he didn't deserve to have Katara. She needed a man in her life, who isn't afraid of anything, who would be willing to do whatever it takes to be by her side, and to love her for all of eternity or _ever_ hurt her. Aang knew that he had sworn that he would conquer this evil inside of him, but it still seemed hopeless and he wasn't going to drag Katara down with him, but she was just so addicting to him. Everyday, since he left, he couldn't stop thinking about her. How her hips curved perfectly with any type of tight clothing she wore, how she would batch her eyes at him sometimes, hear her sigh in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep, listen to her say _I love you Aang_ in her dreams, or how her sweet kiss had an effect on his whole body. How can you stay away from someone, when all you want to do is be with them?

He looked back at her from the corner of his 'good' eye, and could still see that she was ignoring him completely. Aang looked down at his thumbs as he twiddled with them, knowing he should say something.

"Would you be willing to give me a lesson sometime?" he asked, and then she looked at him strangely. Katara still looked calm, but just like a two headed rattle snake viper, if you mess with it you'll only get bit. He chose his words carefully, "I haven't had a _Master_ teach me waterbending in a long time, and it seems like you have some new moves."

"…you want a lesson?" she questioned his motive, not really understanding his reasoning.

He nodded, "Sokka told me that you teach kids at the Southern Water Tribe, and that you are also the greatest Master; even better than Master Pakku."

"Don't patronize me Aang." She snapped at him, still calm in the storm.

"I'm not. I was just watching you and Zuko, and your father is right. You are absolutely the most phenomenal Waterbending Master I have ever seen. And I'm not just saying that to get into your good graces either." He added, but Aang was starting to get nervous.

She just looked at him for a few minutes, and then back at the water. Katara got up, and started to strip her clothes off promptly until she was left standing in her white swimsuit again. Aang's face flushed instantly, and he looked away. Katara felt herself barely smile, but it wouldn't have been enough for anyone else to see. She stepped into the cold water, ready to show him just how much she had learned. Aang was still sitting there with his mouth hanging open, mesmerized by her; it seemed like he had just walked into a dream. Most of the time she would be flattered or even jittery by the look he was giving her, but she ignored all of her feelings for him.

"You want to learn or not?" Her words were like icicles that penetrated his chest, and it felt like he couldn't breathe. Aang gestured towards her, and took off his shoes and Airbending clothes. Katara's heart was bouncing around in her throat, but she stayed focused remembering why she was mad at him. He got into the same stance as she was; ready to give it his all.

"You ready Avatar?" she said, and that was when he saw the poisonous venom in her those blue eyes of hers. _Her_ war began.

Aang got into his usual octopus form, and she was tossing him everything with all of her might. Icicles, waves, water tornados, twist, turns, punches of liquid sprayed in his face as she froze him, and kept on freezing his body every time he got out of it; whether it was a foot, arm, or something to occupy him. She bounced up many spheres of water the size of his head, and kicked him at him. Katara was the best because she could multitask, she was always three steps ahead of him and he was getting a little bit tired. Aang was caught off guard as one of the water bombs hit him in the face, which also had even small sphere of ice in them. His body was stinging with pain, and his face was burning from the small scratches on his face from the ice. The Monk was looking down at the water, and then it shot up into his face; the water traveled up his nose causing him to choke up the liquid that made his eyes water. Then a wave, of what felt like tons of rocks, came crashing down on top of him; it twisted off of him and went back to Katara. She was now on top of a twister, just like he was when he _first_ went into the Avatar State, only she looked more frightening. There was no more water surrounding him, only mud. He thought about using a different element, but figured it was better to play by _her_ rules. The Master was about to attack him once again, but she stopped herself and slowly released the water underneath her, as she walked towards him still dripping in water.

Aang looked up at her, the victorious winner and still even with her angry look she was amazingly gorgeous. Her eyes met his, and then she kicked water in his face. The Monk caught her fantastically smooth legs, and as quickly as he could he gently kicked her foot underneath her; making her land in the water. Katara coughed up the water, and knew that she should be angry, but laughter came out instead as she kicked water back into his face. He splashed it right back at her, and then she did it with her hands, and Aang attacked her. They wrestled through the water, tickling, laughing, and just having plain fun like the good old days. They both didn't realize that they were in the grass again, until Katara was on top of him. Her legs were at the sides of his body, with her hands holding his arms down by the wrist; and her hair wet hair dripping into his face.

Katara felt his body heating up, and even felt his muscles tense between her legs. Aang swallowed the air in his throat, as he restrained himself from pushing her back down onto the grass and start kissing her.

"I'm sorry Katara…I'm sorry about everything." he said, not really understanding why he just ruined the mood. However, Katara did move off of him, or change up her face features.

"Is there a specific reason you're sorry, or are you just saying that so you will _feel_ better?"

Aang felt a little uncomfortable with her on top of him because, it was driving him crazy. "Can't you get off of me, and I'll tell you?" he pleaded.

Her smile was devilish, "Why, are you uncomfortable?"

Again the nervous Airbender gulped, not really sure if it was a trick question. He could feel sweat dripping down his neck, but then again it could be from the water. "Umm…maybe just a little?"

"Good. Then this will make things more interesting." She said with intimidation in her voice, as she enjoyed this position. "Now what are you sorry for?"

Aang sighed, "More than anything, I'm sorry I hurt you. After taking my anger out on you like that, I realized that I broke the most important promise I made to you." Katara's eyebrows pulled together in confusion at what he meant. "I swore to myself that I would never hurt you again, and it only took me four days, and a few hours to do that. That's got to be a world record, right?"

"Don't change the subject. Keep going."

"When I saw you and Jet…"

"_Kiss_." she hinted.

"…yeah. And after thinking about it for the past few hours, I realized it doesn't matter anymore."

"Why not? He did after all kiss me." Katara reminded him, trying to press his buttons some more.

Aang tightened his jawbone "…don't remind me. But the point is, is that I was _so_ blinded by my jealousy by my jealousy that I didn't see what I had in front of me. It took a blind girl, and a protective brother to remind me of what I have…or had at least."

"And what is it that you have, or _had_ I should say?"

"I lost the most valuable person that I treasure the most in the Universe, which I would give my life to in a heart beat. And I failed at that, because I didn't trust you. But what I didn't take into consideration was that _you_ saved these people lives Katara. You got the information out of Jet without shedding any blood, and I believe that he gave you no other choice; otherwise I know you wouldn't have done it...and I'm sorry that I am not the person I used to be…you deserve better."

This time, she smiled at him. "Well, then I guess you will have to do for now. Who else is going to be able to challenge me in waterbending without holding back?"

A sigh of relief escaped the pinned down Monks, "Well like they all said, you are a better Master, so can I get that lesson now? I'm a little bit rusty on it, and I could use your help." he said, as he moved his arms a little in which Katara let him. Aang pushed himself back with Katara still on top of him, and he was about to get up, but she put a hand on his chest.

"But first, I have to ask this. How did you get a black eye?" Katara asked, and let her other hand hover over it.

"Ah!" he bellowed, and sucked the pain back through his nose. "Let's just say, I did it for _you_." Again, Katara looked confused. "I told Sokka about us, and there was a heart warming 'bromance' between us, and then he hit me. But I kind of asked him to do it for me."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, and it was important to you. And I knew it was too late, but I figured that it was better late than ever. Besides, you just won the bet against Toph. How do you feel?" he grinned at her, and could see the ocean in her eyes. She looked into those stormy round spheres of his, she leaned down and kissed him passionately. His lips were chapped, but she could feel them softening due to her healing abilities. Aang removed a little bit of her wet hair on her right check as she sat on his lap. Katara loved their tongue wars, and she tasted like Heaven to him. His right hand strayed at her waist, and then it gradually slid down her upper thigh. His finger tips grasped onto them as he dragged them down above her knees, and the heat was building up. Katara caught her breath, loving the feeling of his hands on her thighs, and how every touch was like magic to her. She was losing her breath, and she _hated_ that Airbender's could hold their breath longer; Katara gave up and gasped at the warm summers air. Aang was gasping for air too, but not as bad as she was.

"So I guess that means that I am forgiven?" he questioned with curiosity. Katara laughed, and then gently kissed him again. "I guess Sokka was right about one thing, actions do speak louder than words."

She rolled her eyes at whatever he meant, and got off of him. She held out her hand to him, "Come on, you need to sleep." But before he took it, she heard a loud rumble that could have shook the entire world, "and some food while I'm at it."

Aang smiled, and grabbed her dark hands, and airbended himself up to help her out. "Not until you teach me about those water spheres that had ice in them. How did you do that?"

"Lots and lots of practice, but for now you need to rest. I can't teach a sleepy Avatar! What would the Spirits say about this?" she joked, as they put on their clothing and placed his left arm over her shoulders and started walking back.

"So, were you able to get anything else out of Jet from that kiss of yours?"

Katara looked up at him to see the expression on his face, but he showed a little bit of humor in it this time. She moved her head up and down, "Jet says that they are called Death Stalkers…have you ever heard of them before?"

For once, Aang had never heard of a group called that before. Even with the history of the Airbender's, there seemed to nothing that clicked. He shook his bald head, "No, but I wish I did…we need to decide out next move.'

The Waterbender looked up at him, and had seen that look before. It was the look of something he didn't want to do. "Seems like you already have an idea."

He smirked, "I do, but you aren't going to like it, because I absolutely _despise_ it."

OooooOooooOoooo

"YOU WANNA WHAT?" Sokka yelled with his mouth hanging open, as well as everyone else's. Even Katara's big blues were big too, because Aang didn't want to tell her about it until everyone was there with him, and now wished he could have at least given her a heads up. Even the fire seemed to have gotten a little bit bigger from Aang's idea, with the group sitting around it. Toph was leaning back against Teo's left wheel, Zuko and Mai just sat closely next to each other, Sokka had his hand around Suki's waist, but now he was grabbing hold his knee's still in shock and Katara sat there with her legs crossed on his left.

"Look guys I know it seems like a crazy idea—"

"Crazy?" Toph emphasized, "more like insane! I've known mud that is smarter than you!" Aang agreed completely with her, and he knew that everyone else felt the same way.

"Why in the world would you want to bring _Jet_ with us?" Suki questioned, "I mean after everything he has done to you guys, who proclaims that he is not one of these so called _Death Stalkers_, and yet he is, and you want to bring him with us?"

"What the hell are you thinking Aang?" Zuko asked more calmly than the others, but still had hate in his tone. Katara didn't say anything, but instead just listened to him.

The Airbender wiped the sweat from his forehead, even though the weather was cool enough to wear long sleeves. His body temperature had increased a little bit ever since he helped the Village, and he had hoped that it would have gone away by now. He knew it was because Ozai was getting stronger inside of him, and Aang still didn't understand how the Demon inside of him was still winning. The Monk placed his hand on his hip, "Just hear me out okay? Jet is the only person, who I might remind you is still alive, and the only one who knows the people we are facing! We don't know what we are up against, who the leader is, and why they are stealing people. As much as I hate this idea too, he could help us."

Toph spit, "Oh sure, let the executioner come along with us and lead us down the path of righteousness. We are better off figuring things out on our own!"

"Really?" Aang pressed the matter, "and how many more times are we going to see Villages like this, or like Shing's home?" They all became silent, as did the bugs that seemed to be speaking to each other. "We cannot let this continue on without any help. Jet may be the key to helping us!"

"At what cost though?" Teo bellowed out, after he had learned of who Jet was. He didn't trust him, neither did any of the others.

Aang sighed, "I know it's a risk everyone, I get that. It's a horrible idea, but Jet's memory could help us."

"How?" Mai asked intrigued for once, "you said that his memory has been erased."

The bald Airbender looked over at Katara, whose eyes were on the fire. He was going to be asking a lot from her, but she is the only one who had the gift. "Katara was once able to help him remember, and it's possible that she could do it again."

Everyone looked at her, and Katara's face was totally blank. She knew that Aang didn't want to do this, and neither did the others, but it actually seemed plausible to do. He continued, "His memory isn't gone, but blocked. We learned that last time, and perhaps scenery or a smell could help trigger this. Jet told Katara he wasn't one of them, and wanted to prove it…this could be our _only_ opportunity we have to find out the truth. I know what I am asking of you guys is more than you bargained for, and you don't have to go any farther than you need to. But I _won't_ do it, unless everyone agrees with me." His eyes traveled around everyone's, and then back into the fire.

"What about Appa?" Suki asked, who had become very fond of him ever since she rescued, and helped him find his way back to Aang.

Aang cracked a grin, "He has grown a lot, and gotten stronger too. He can handle it, but we can't travel all day any more. I have thought of every other possible alternative, including keeping him here or bringing him to the Southern Water Tribe to be watched over. If Jet stays here, he will die. And if he goes to Chief Hakoda, he may even escape somehow, we are better off looking after him ourselves. But I believe that this is our only chance to perhaps catch this group unexpectedly, and hopefully put a stop to whatever they are planning on doing. I can't do this without you guys...so who is with me on this?"

No one moved, and the silence was devastating as they all looked at each other for several minutes. Aang knew it was a shot in the dark, but he had to try anyways. From the corner of his eye, he saw something move and he looked to his left. _Katara_ had raised her hand up, and then he saw her lip curl up. Aang's smiled back, and nodded to her for understanding. Sokka pouted like a little kid and followed his sister's lead, as did Suki, Toph, Teo, Mai, and finally Zuko. The Monk breathed out the air that he had been holding the whole time, and was happy to finally release it.

"Thank you. All of you." he said, and walked over to Katara. He sat down with her, with his legs opened. She scooted in between them, with his right knee up and the other on the ground. He hugged his beautiful Waterbender, and rested his chin on her shoulder smelling the fragrance of rain on her. "Thank you." he whispered to her, and squeezed Katara tighter. Her hand rubbed against his blue tattoos on his arm, and leaned her head against him.

Sokka tried to get the two love birds back on track, "Can we tie him up to a tree at night, or let Appa sit on him so he won't kill us in our sleep or run away? Can we tangle him from Appa when we fly?"

"Trust me Sokka," Toph said, "I am the best alarm system you will need. He won't be able to do anything without me hearing it first." This did comfort them all as they remembered her special ability, and sometimes it was a curse too.

"I'm all for that. He can't be trusted, so I'll let you guys decide what to do…within reason of course!" Aang said, remembering that Sokka's mind was filled with scary ideas.

"Well where is the fun in that?" he remarked sarcastically.

Aang smiled, "I need to ask another favor from you all. Apparently, I'm a little rusty with bending and I could use some training once again. Sokka, I need you to teach me about swords as well, and even Suki could help me in that area too."

Toph popped her knuckles, "'bout time Avatar, I've needed a challenge for quite some time. Need to work on your Metalbending too." Aang agreed, and then suddenly remembered something very important.

"And one more thing Toph, YOU LOSE." The Earthbender for once didn't know what he was talking about, "the bet that you guys made with Sokka. Katara won!"

"Ha-ha! You expect me to believe that Sokka, the most over protective brother, only gave you a black eye after you told him that you and Katara were dating? Riiiiiiight! And the next thing you know, I'm going to see again with my eyes!"

"Umm…" Teo whispered, to her "he isn't joking. His right eye is dark purple, and it's completely shut." Toph stopped laughing, as she realized what she just lost.

"I'll take my knife back if you don't mind." Mai said, happy that Katara won the bet.

"Let me _see_!" Toph then got up quickly, and before Aang could react she quickly turned his head and poked him in the eyes. Katara felt the Airbender jump in pain, and then swatted at Toph, missing her completely. He covered up the pressure on his eye, and wanted to teach her a lesson.

"Come on Toph! That was a low move!"

She shrugged, and walked back to her seat. "Sorry, old habits."

Aang was about to get up, but Katara stopped him as she held onto his arms. He sighed as he looked at her, and slumped back down with his chin back on her shoulder. She kissed him gently, "I can fix it for you, remember?" she smiled, and then he put on her favorite kid grin.

"Hmm, I could get used to that." he laughed, and it made her giggle.

"Okay, we need to lay some basic ground rules, now that you two are a…couple!" Sokka gagged at the last word.

"What are you talking about?" Katara gestured towards her older brother.

"Number one, absolutely NO kissing in my presence or when I am not around; number two, I'll allow both of you to hold hands, _if_ I can see them; number three…"

But before Sokka could continue with his list of demands, Katara turned Aang's face away from Sokka and put his warm lips on hers. She felt his surprised mouth, but they formed with hers. Aang knew he should pull away from her before her brother would kill him, but it was impossible to pull away from those luscious lips of hers. Suddenly, he felt a small rock hit the side of his head, causing him to part away from her regrettably.

Toph started to make gagging noises, "For the love of Kyoshi's Spirit, stop it! It's bad enough I can hear, and can't block it!" Teo laughed a little, and placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down a little bit.

"Sorry." Katara said into the Air Nomads ear, and then kissed him on the neck. Aang gave her a sad face, but was willing to hold off for now.

"How about we discuss where we are going next?" Suki said, trying to _once again_ help the young couple out of this awkward situation.

"I agree." Mai said, who had become irritated with the newly love birds quickly. Zuko only smirked at her, and took her hand into his.

"Where to then, Mr. Map Quest." Toph said to Sokka.

"Don't forget Toph," Katara said with an evil smile that she wished that the Earthbender could see. "You call us by our own names for two weeks, starting—now."

"Psshh, whatever _Katara_." she emphasized.

"Anyway," Sokka said, "to the South of us is Omashu. It's possibly a good week away, depends on how much 'Hit Man' can slow us down though. North, is the trading village, and northeast is The Great Divide. I say lets keep going East, for now."

"Why?" Teo asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know? Gut feeling, maybe. Plus, Jet's home is just north, so maybe a few memories of the past will help him remember who he is."

"The Freedom Fighters." Katara said, "you're hoping it'll help him again?"

"Worth a try. You said Jet needs memory help, so maybe they can perhaps help us out a little?"

"It's a good idea, but if we keep heading north we can visit Aunt Wu too. Maybe she can help us some too."

"Aunt Who?" the whole Gang said at the same time to Katara.

"Oh, no! No. No! There is no way that I am going to see her again!"

Katara smiled, "Oh you're just mad because she predicted how your life is going to turn out."

"What did she predict?" Suki asked curiously.

"Nothing." he said, and folded his arm up like a like a fiver year old, who didn't want to admit that he did something wrong.

"I think she predicted it quite well." Katara's eyes switched to Suki's, "She said that he would be in pain and anguish, and that most of them would be self inflicted."

Toph busted out laughing, "I don't know who this lady is, but I like her! It fits Sokka perfectly!"

Everyone else began to laugh too, which caused Katara's brother to turn pink on his cheeks. He got up from the group and started mumbling to himself as he went into the tent, tripping over his unrolled sleeping bag. Again, the Gang laughed and Suki went to over to help calm him a little, as they both went back into their tent.

Toph wiped a tear from her eyes, and then she yawned. "Whelp I'm hitting the rocks now, so…later." she said, and walked away with Teo following her lead, as well Mai and Zuko who seemed to have weird looks in their eyes. They all headed into their tents, leaving only Katara and Aang alone in front of the fire; with the stars, and the half moon out to watch over them. It was very dark, but you could still see streams of gray clouds floating in the night sky; it only made Aang think of Aunt Wu, when Katara and he helped save the village by "cloud reading."

"There's probably something I should tell you Katara…" Aang said, and she turned her head to look at him. At first there was a worried look in her eyes, but when she saw Aang smiling, she knew it was a secret that he had been hiding from her.

"When we were in Aunt Wu's home, I might have, kinda, perhaps, maybe overheard your palm prediction from Aunt Wu, when she told you that you would be with a _Powerful_ Bender."

This surprised Katara, but at the same it didn't. Back then she never really knew how Aang had felt about her, and in a way it was kind of sweet. He must have been extremely curious to know who she would end up with, and got all worried about it."Well you must have heard wrong, because she didn't predict _that_."

Aang cocked his head in confusion, as he remembered that day perfectly well. "How so?"

This made the Waterbender's smile grow, while the shadows formed on her face from the fire, and making her look breathtaking. "She said that I wouldn't be with a powerful Bender, but that I would _marry_ him." Katara hinted.

Again, the Monk felt his cheeks and his ears heat up; he was happy to know that the fire didn't show it. "Hmm…maybe I heard the wrong palm reader then?" he joked, and received a light punch from Katara who still just grinned at him. He kissed her on the cheek, "Sorry." he whispered warm air onto neck, and felt her shiver in his arms.

"Were you _that_ curious?" she asked.

Aang sighed, "At first I was going to let you have your privacy, but then Sokka mentioned what you were going to ask like; who you are going to marry, and how many kids you are going to have…so I kind of freaked out, and I listened in on your conversation." Katara moved her back off of Aang's chest, and then faced him; he then crossed his legs and leaned on his elbows.

"You were that curious about _whom_ I would marry?"

"I couldn't help it! I wanted to see if it would somehow be the little kid who had a huge crush on you." he defended.

"Was it what you wanted to hear?"

He laughed slightly, "I suppose, she never really said who though…was it what you wanted to hear?"

"…yes. However, I never thought it would be you that I would fall in love with." Katara saw some light go out of his eyes as he found the truth at long last.

"Because, I was just a sweet kid who was too young for you?"

The dark skinned girl took his tattooed hands into hers, and said "Maybe, but I'm glad it wasn't how I expected it to plan out Aang. Life is surprising and unpredictable, and Gran Gran said, that because Sokka and I found you our lives would be intertwined with yours. I knew you were special Aang, even before you told us you were the Avatar. Falling in love with you wasn't part of my plan at all, but the more I got to know you, be around you all of the time, comfort you, and teach you Waterbending…something changed in me. And when you got hurt from Azula, and I thought I almost lost you, those feelings finally emerged for me to see. Even then I denied them though."

"Why?"

"Honestly, because I was afraid…"

For some reason, that comment hurt him tremendously. Things had happened to Katara that he didn't know about, and would probably never know about. "Did I do something wrong to make you fear those feelings for me?"

Her gorgeous smile faded, and he felt her hands tighten. "No…it was more of a past thing for me. You see, I've learned that if I get close to someone, something _always_ happens to them. My Mom died, my Dad left me, Sokka has been hurt in more ways that should've killed him by now, Jet turned out to be a bad guy who used us, and then you died and left me a few months later…"

Aang hanged his head down, and looked at their hands wrapped around one another. For Katara's entire life, people betrayed her, died, or left her alone. She was afraid to be with him because of what he did to her and he didn't blame her in the least bit. The Monk knew the consequences of leaving her and coming back; he knew that she loved him, but things would probably never be the same with them. But Aang was the worst of this list, because he hurt her deeply. _Twice_. It was a burden that he wished he could lift off of her and place it on his shoulder, but she would never let him do that either even if he could. Aang felt his stomach twist and turn, as he tried to think of the horrible things that she went through while he was gone. How many tears did she shed when she looked for him, or the number of times that she felt so _alone_ in this world. The question that was on his mind now was could he tell her about their future? Could he actually tell her that he was going to turn evil and in the end kill all that is good and loving in this world; including her?

He didn't want to even look up at her, as a secret tear fell onto his hand and splashed onto hers "I made it worse."

Katara placed her left hand on his smooth chin, and raised his gray eyes up to hers. "That was the past Aang. Everything that we went through, the pain and struggle was for us to realize that we can't live without one another. I would do it again, if it meant for us to be in this moment, right here; right now." She felt his smile form under her hands that showed her favorite dimples on his face. His left hand grabbed hers, and kissed the inside of her palms.

"I promise you this Katara; I will never leave you again for as long as I live unless you tell me to. I will never depart from you, even if my body is reincarnated into the next Avatar. I will always be with you. Whether in this world or the next, I am forever and eternally yours. I won't leave you again." he said. In that mind, his thoughts went to the betrothal necklace that was in his pocket, and it seemed like the most perfect moment to ask for her hand in marriage. However, it would not happen until he was he was completely himself again, with no evil in him.

The Waterbender felt her eyes stinging and leaned into Aang for a kiss, in which he took without a fight. He leaned his back on the log behind him as Katara got into a better position and pressed harder against him. The Airbender felt her cool tongue slide over his bottom lip, sending him chills all over his body. He could smell the waterfall and the pink carnation flower in her hair, and if paradise was like this he would never leave it. Time seemed to stand still around them, and even the heat of the fire didn't seem to bother them in the least bit. Katara's hands traveled up to the layer of clothing on his shoulder, and slid it off of him. Her chilled hands burned on his chest, leaving a tingling feeling behind as she moved them down to his abdominals. The Airbender took a break from her lips and moved them down to her neck, feeling the smoothness of her skin and listening to her uncontrolled breathing. His hands were still placed on her lower back as he pulled her in tighter, and then something hard hit him in the back of his head.

"Enough you two! It's bad enough that I have to deal with the other lovers, and I don't need more noise added onto my plate!" Toph yelled out of her tent.

Aang rubbed the back of his head, "Is today _Hit the Aang Day_, because that seems to be all I am getting from everyone!" he yelled towards the blind girl.

The blue eyed girl giggled, and kissed him the lips one more time before she put his clothes back onto his sleeve and helped him up. "You need to rest anyways, you look exhausted."

The Airbender knew she was right, but after that kiss he wasn't tired in the least bit anymore. "You go onto bed, I need to talk to Jet, and then…"

Katara placed a finger over his lips to make him shut up, "Not tonight your not. We will deal with tomorrow when it is tomorrow, but for now you need to sleep." The bald Monk was about to object until Katara grabbed his left hand and pulled her towards _her_ tent. There was a sleeping bag to the right, and in the same corner was her bag of things where a candle was lit next to it. "Stay with me tonight?"

Suddenly Aang felt like he was free falling all over again with his stomach turning so many ways, and feeling his hot blood speeding to the beat of his own heart. He knew that Sokka would kill him if he ever did find them together in the same tent, but things were different now and like Katara said; he would deal with tomorrow when tomorrow came. The Air Nomad smiled, and followed her guidance as she lay on her sleeping bag and Aang put his body next to her on the ground. He scooted in a bit closer to be near her, and in response she wrapped her left arm around his waist, and placed her head onto the side of his warm bare chest. They both just closed their eyes, and enjoyed the distant fire noise.

Katara chuckled a little bit with her eyes still shut and not looking at him. "I guess I understand now why Toph hates the way your heart is…but I love it." She yawned, and got comfortable with him. She heard him laugh quietly, and the sound of his slow methodic breathing started to put her into a sleeping trance; and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

"I love you Katara. No matter what happens to me, remember that you are everything to me. You are _everything_." He whispered knowing that she was asleep, and then sent a mini tornado of air towards the candle light, as he did to Toph when trying to cool her soup off, which went out instantly. He breathed her intoxicated flower into his nose, and felt his eyes go to the back of his head as he drifted to sleep with the love of his life in his arms.

**Okay, so they are back together YAY! Tell me what you guys think by commenting/view me. I appreciate ANY input, good or bad. Thank you everyone for reading, and I will put up the next one as fast as I possibly can. Promise. It just may take me a while, so please bare with me. **

**Peace and Love Avatards!**


	21. Chapter 21

**First off, thank you guys for ALL of your reviews! I truly appreciate them! And also thanks for the emails I have recieved from those who were concerned with me, and curious about my writing. And also, I just want to say welcome to any new comers of this FanFic, and I hopeto continue seein your comments.**

**It's been a long time, I know. This past month has been kinda tough on me, with school and other stuff going on. There were so many times I would try and write for all of you, but I just couldn't focus enough :( I'm really, _truly_ sorry that I have made you guys wait a full month, give or take, for another chapter. I haven't stopped writing in case any of you were wondering, but sometimes an Author just has long term brain farts, and I didn't want to give you guys a sucky chapter, so I waited until I was finally ready to write again which was unfortunate for you guys, I know. Hope you guys understand.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I don't own anything of A:TLA. Sorry for any mispelled words, bad grammering, or repeated words. Last time we left off, Katara and Aang had fallen asleep in the same tent, and we pick it up from there... **

_Katara's eyes popped open to the dark skies, feeling the heat around her as if something was burning. She hoisted her back off of the ground and onto her feet, feeling drained of energy and her mouth dry as sand. As soon as she looked around the Waterbender saw the most horrifying scene that she had ever gazed upon. There were absolutely no stars in the sky, because the black curtain of smoke from the forest's fire covered them all. Arrows, spears, swords, and every weapon imaginable was sticking up from the ground. She took a step, and felt a weird feeling in the ground. It was hard, but somehow soft. She was about to rub her eyes, but stopped when she saw the dried blood on her hands, and in between her finger nails. _

_Katara gasped at her palms, but then her sight caught something off to the side. Her eyes followed to her left, and there she saw a man with about six arrows in his back and bleeding from the mouth. He was an Earthbender, from the looks of his green Warriors outfit that was mixed with mud and red liquid. She looked around herself and saw piles of dead corpse, of both men and women around her. The blue eyed girl began to tear up while her stomach decided to act up and make her throw up at the deaths around her. She had never smelt a dead body before, and wished that she could forget the awful smell. _

_The scared girl called out to her friends. "Sokka! Toph! Suki! Zuko! Mai! Teo! Aang, where are you?" There no was response, but the sound of ripped colored flags hissing with the wind that was too hot to breathe into. She walked around for a few minutes, careful not to step on anyone even though it was completely pointless to attempt it. In the distance she saw a giant hill, with four people standing on top of it, and then there were screams of pain. She quickly ran to them, still breathing in the smoke screen around and making her eyes water up while coughing up the poison. She saw fire explode on top of the hill, and the sound of rocks smashing against something one another. The Waterbender could feel her calves burning as she kept on running towards what could possibly be a fight still going on, but by the time she got there death seemed to be her only friend. The people that she saw were all lying down in pairs almost. Each of them of the men was oddly with a woman by their side. Katara quickly ran to them, even though her legs felt like someone place metal in her shoes. _

_She went to the girl on her right, who seemed to be alone, and looked like the age of the blind Earthbender. The black haired girl's body was facing the ground, in an odd position. Katara pushed her over gently as if she was still alive and without a doubt, she knew it was Toph. Katara quickly let go of the deceased girl as she jumped back quickly trying to hold back her tears. Her eyes then caught a dagger that she would have noticed anywhere, sticking out of a young pale girl's back. She was laying a man's chest that had icicles in his stomach; which did not seem to be affected by the heat of the fiery inferno. The Waterbender turned her eyes away, and then caught the clothes of a Kyoshi Warrior. She sprinted to her soon to be Sister-In-Law, who held the hands with a Water Tribe Warrior. His face was facing to the right, with half of his face was in the red mud eyes still opened. Katara quickly shoved him onto his back. Sokka coughed up the blood from his mouth barely breathing; she gently grabbed his head and placed him on her knees, holding him in his last moments. The beautiful sword that Aang once gave him, was now sticking out of his chest, and it had been broken off. _

"_Ka-Katara…" he whispered in a struggle to his sister, as she could feel the life going out of him slowly and painfully. _

"_Shh, don't talk, don't speak. I'm going to take care of you." she promised, even though she knew that it couldn't be kept. Her eyes began to be blurred by her the salt water that fell accidentally onto her brother. _

"_Katara—run! R-run…" he breathed the last words with his eyes fixed on her, and didn't move anymore. The Waterbender began to ball her eyes out while she pulled her dead brother into her arms, apologizing and screaming at him to wake up. It had finally happened; she was left alone in this world, or what was left of it. She heard footsteps coming her way, and she knew that it had to be the killer who did this to them. She sucked her anger back into her nose, and placed her brother back onto the mud. Katara slowly stood up, and summoned the blood that was around her, forming her arms into long octopuses tentacles, and turned around ready to fight. But when she did, she stopped as she saw the most familiar face she had come to love. _Aang_. He was in his shredded Firebending clothes that were dripping of red liquid that also covered up his sky blue tattoos. His eyes were darker than the night sky that seemed to look straight through to her._

"_Aang!" she cried out finally happy to see someone alive. She ran to him so full of joy in her tears this time and her arms open wide for him to take her into his strong arms. But instead of him holding her close in this dark time, he quickly grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up as if she was lighter than the wind itself. She gasped for air, but his rough hand grip tightened around her even more. She grabbed at his hand and tired to loosen it, but they were like stoned, cold hands._

"_Aang! St-Stop! Wha-are you-doing?"_

_He looked up into her eyes and said in a voice that only demons would sound like, "Save him. Only you have the power to stop him!"_

"_Wha-?" she chocked out, feeling the blood stopping and the pressure building up inside of her head; she knew that in a matter of seconds she was going to pass out _

"_Save him Katara. Or this will be your future, and _he_ will be forever lost." Aang said evilly at her while the darkness crept into her eyes…_

Katara jumped up from her sleep gasping for air, as if she could truly feel Aang's hands still holding onto her neck. She reached up to the area where his grip had her, and sigh of relief came out of her mouth with the realization that she it wasn't bruised or sore. The Waterbender looked out to the tent, and could see the sun trying to creep its way into their small home. Katara didn't realize how hot she was until a bead of sweat dripped down her nose, causing it to tickle a little bit. She wiped her forehead, and looked over at Aang. For _once_ he was still sound asleep while lying on his stomach and breathing a soft snore. Katara smiled at him, happy to see that he wasn't up just yet, and question her to the way she looked. As quietly as she could, she got up from her sleeping bag and walked out of the small tent.

The air was so nice and cool early in the morning, for which the dark skinned girl was thankful for as it cooled her body off and seemed to drive the darkness of the dream away. By the look of the sun, she could see that it was about ten in the morning and no one else seemed to be up. She thanked the Spirits for that, because Sokka wouldn't be breathing down her neck right now to fix breakfast for everyone; not that she minded cooking, but sometimes she just wanted to tell him to make his own breakfast…but too many things would happen if he did that. Katara headed into the village, where the people there seemed to be in a little bit more cheery as she walked into town. They offered her many things, from food, to clothing, supplies, medicine, and just about anything she had asked for. In the next few hours, she had everything she needed for their next trip in a couple of baskets, and was about to head out until a certain dress caught her eye. It was a beautiful green color, with a vanilla lace that could possibly go up to where the middle of her thigh would be, the color followed along to the bottom of the long sleeves that would go past her hands half way. There was also a vanilla spot to where her neck would be, and just below that, a darker green of swirls that sprouted from it, with the same swirls at the bottom of the dress. She had never seen such a beautiful Earth Kingdom dress before, but it looked to be too small for her though.

Katara hadn't noticed that a young woman was sitting to her right side, as she watched her reaction to the dress. She got up and said in a sweet voice, "Can I help you with something Katara?"

The Waterbender looked at her, and could see that she was perhaps her age if not a little older. Her hair was dark, and she had the same green eyes that the fabric of the dress. Katara smiled, "Oh no, I was just looking at this beautiful dress of yours. It seems that it took you long time to make this."

She nodded, "You have a good eye Katara. I began on this many months ago and just finished it last night. For some reason I wanted to sell it, even though I swore to myself that I wouldn't."

Katara looked back at it, and then back at her. "I've never seen such work like this before." She said and touch it ever so carefully, "is that silk too?"

The young woman grinned, "Oh yes. Only on the inside it is. A woman should feel softer when she wears it; however I have never tried it on to prove that."

"Why not? I bet it would make you look so beautiful that the guys would fall at your feet."

They both giggled, "Perhaps, but I am already married."

Katara grinned at her, "Congratulations! Well I am certain your husband would love it."

"I know he would, but this dress is too special even for him to see it on me. I had not intention of making something this expensive, but it was like I was meant to do it. I've never really been into this kind of stuff…would you like to try it on?" she gestured towards Katara.

"Oh no! That's okay; I was just gazing at its craftsmanship. I don't have the money to pay you and—"

"Please" she interrupted her, "it would be nice to see it on someone before I sell it." Katara was about to object again, but the young woman grabbed the baskets that she was caring and pushed her into the little changing room. She handed it to Katara, and shut the curtain behind her. The Waterbender sighed at the black haired lady and did as she was told. She stripped her clothes off until she was standing there in her bathing suit and took her boots off too. The blue eyed girl put the dress on, and then straightened herself out. Katara was surprised that it actually fit her perfectly, almost as if it was made for her; the silk on the inside was like a cloud was hugging her. It was tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination, but not too tight to where she couldn't move or breathe in it. She opened the curtain to show the young lady, and as soon as she walked out the woman's eyes were huge, with so much joy in them.

"By the sweet Spirits, you look like amazing!" she said, which made Katara blush a little. "What do you think of it? And be honest, I can take it."

This time Katara smiled with her white teeth showing, "I don't think even royalty can even touch this dress that you have made." she said, meaning it whole heartedly. She saw a small tear drop from her eyes, as she quickly wiped it away. Katara nodded to her, and went back into the changing room to put her Waterbending clothes back on, that suddenly felt like hay laying across her skin. She folded up the dress up the way she saw it, walked out, and found that the woman just sold a twined blue and green bracelet to a little girl, no more than five. She turned back to Katara once she placed the money into the brown pouch that was tied to her waist.

The Waterbender held out the dress to her, "thank you for everything. Make sure that whomever you sell this too they don't lose sight of it. I think even a Queen would steal it if she could." Katara laughed, as did the woman.

The young lady bowed to her, "Then I would suggest that you keep it close to you then."

The dark skinned girl gave her a confused look, "What? No, I couldn't. I told you that I don't have the money for this dress!"

"After everything you have done for my husband and me, I believe that it was fate that made me make that dress for you; as soon as I saw you looking at it, I knew that you were suppose to have it."

Katara shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I cannot accept this. You can make a lot of money selling this beautiful dress, and yet you want to give it to me?"

The woman turned her back on her, and went to get the baskets. "It fits you perfectly, and I can't imagine anyone else looking so gorgeous wearing my dress. It would greatly honor me, if you would wear it someday. And I am sure the lucky fellow in your life would appreciate it too." she winked at her, and put the basket of supplies at Katara's feet and walked past her to her small old woodened chair.

"I…I don't know what to say..."

The green eyed lady smiled at her, "You just did."

Katara desperately wanted to give the dress back to her, but at the same time hug her too. No one had ever given her something like this before, and she was right. It was perfect. "Thank you so much!" she said and picked up her things, remembering that Zuko had some money in his supplies somewhere. She would pay her, and Zuko would help her too. Katara placed the dress inside one of the baskets, making sure that nothing would snag onto it. Katara turned back to the woman, "thank you again" she said, and walked back to their little camp site just outside of the town. It was about noon by the time she got there, and everyone was up except for Aang.

"Well it's about time Katara! I haven't eaten all day, literally!" he bellowed out, but his stomach was louder.

His sister rolled his eyes at him, "Suki can you help me really quick, and set this over there." She nodded towards the camps fire as the auburn haired girl came to her. She got hold of the baskets, and took the green dress out without Sokka noticing. Suki raised an eyebrow, with a look that said _I want to see that on you_. Katara quickly went into her tent, and saw that Aang was in the same position just as she left him. She knew he would be hungry, but didn't want to disturb his slumber that he was in. The Waterbender went over to her bag, and pulled out her other clothes. She placed her old ones at the bottom, then the silk dress, and then the rest of her clothing to cover it up as she tied it up tightly.

Katara headed went back out to cook their meals, which was going to be five flavored soup with some meat for Sokka and veggies for Aang whenever he would wake up. She cooked, and everyone else was packing up their things while her mind went back to the dream that she had last night. She had never had a dream that felt _so_ real that it would make her skin crawl. Katara wondered if a Spirit was trying to give her a message or something. She had had her fair share of nightmares, but this…this was too different to ignore. In most dreams she could barely remember the beginning, middle, or end, but she could remember every detail in this particular nightmare. Katara had never seen so much death, blood, and the decay of Benders around her. She looked up at everyone, remembering exactly what had happened to them, and she could feel herself about to cry; but she shook her head and ignored it. However, the one thing she couldn't get over was that she believed Aang, her full of life Aang, would be the one to kill so many. He wasn't even willing to eat animals, because they were dead and he wasn't even willing to take Ozai's life when he was backed into a corner.

The Monks eyes were so dark, that it seemed like there was nothing left of the Aang that she loved. His blue tattoos were red, and his words were like a splinter stuck in her nails. _"Save him, or he will be forever lost."_ How is she supposed to save him? How can she prevent so much death, save her new family, and make sure that Aang doesn't ever do that? When will this day come; tomorrow, next week, next month, next year? So many questions and no one would be able to answer her.

"Katara!" Suki said and then the Waterbender felt her whole body shake.

She snapped out of it, "Wha-?" she began, and hadn't even realized that the soup was boiling so much that it began to overflow onto the fire, trying to put it out. "Oh no!" she said, and bended it out of the pot so that she could save the rest of it. She held it up for a few minutes, and then placed it back into the pot once it cooled off.

"Whew, thanks Suki. I didn't even realize it was boiling…"

"Really? Sokka could hear the fire sizzling from over there, but you didn't even notice it?" she asked curiously. "Is everything alright?"

Katara put on her best lying face, "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep too well last night."

Suki smiled, "Hmm, I wonder why?" she said and winked at her. Right then, Katara knew about Aang and her sleeping in the same tent.

Katara half laughed, "Does he know?" she said nodding towards her brother who was walking to them with Momo on his shoulder.

"I'm sure he does, but I wouldn't mention it till after he's done eating…or you could just not mention it at all." Suki smiled at her best friend, hoping she knew how tough it was for Sokka to not go marching in there last night after knowing that Aang was sleeping in the same tent as her. She had to keep him _detained_ last night, which wasn't too difficult to do.

"Thanks for the heads up. Has Aang come out yet?" she questioned, wondering if she had somehow missed him.

The short auburn hair girl shook his head, "I looked, but he was still asleep. I can't believe how long that he has been sleeping; usually he is the first one up. Did you slip him a drug or something to _make_ him sleep?"

Katara giggled, "No, but maybe next time I will if it comes down to it." By about this time, everyone was gathering around the food, and filling their bowls up all of the way; unfortunately for Sokka, it had spilled onto his hands.

"DAAAAAGGGGHHHH! Stupid bowl, stupid food, stupid heat!" he rambled onto himself, causing everyone to laugh. They all sat around the food, talking, discussing plans to do with Jet, but it just didn't feel the same without Aang. The Airbender didn't want to be the leader of the group, but he was and they all needed him. After about an hour, the sleeping Vegetarian still wasn't up, and it was already past two. They would leave in a few short hours, and it seemed like someone was going to have to talk with Jet…and unfortunately she was going to have to do it. She wanted Aang to rest, and there was no way she was going to wake him up just yet.

"Toph, feel like taking a trip down to the pit of the Earth again?" the Waterbender asked.

Toph raised an eyebrow, "Ugh, you wanna swing that one by me again?" she asked, as everyone listened and Sokka stopped slurping his food.

"Come on guys! We all agreed that we were going to have to bring Jet with us."

"I say the Hell with him!" Zuko proclaimed, and everyone nodded. "There is no way he can be trusted!"

"Don't forget Zuko, we were all enemies once…I didn't trust you either." Katara reminded him, which made him feel ashamed and Katara continued. "As much as I don't want to do it, we have to. I have a feeling that if he stays here, all of these peoples hate and pain would kill him eventually."

"So?" Sokka bellowed out, "There'll be one less evil guy in this world."

Katara looked at all of them and could tell that a secret meeting happened without her or Aang's presence. "Since when did you all decide on this?" Again no one said anything, and it seemed like the sky was in all of their interest except for Toph's.

Suki spoke up, "look we just think it would be safer if Jet didn't come with us. He is obviously not with us, he's against us!"

The Waterbender didn't know why she was defending Jet, especially when it seemed like a good idea to just hop onto Appa and leave; but who were they to hold someone's life in their hands. "You know Aang won't do it. He won't allow it."

"Won't allow what?" a familiar voice said behind them, with a yawn that followed. Everyone turned around quickly to see the tattooed boy without his shirt on. The bags underneath his eyes had faded a lot, but he was still going to need a lot more rest. No one said anything this time now with him awake, and for a few minutes they kept looking at one another hoping for someone else to spill the rice.

"Bunch of wimps!" Toph bellowed out finally, "look Twinkle Toes, we agreed that Jet isn't coming with us, because he's too much of a threat apparently." she added, since she knew that she would be keeping _ears_ on him no matter what.

Aang looked at his friends, not surprised that they had done this. "I see…well I told you guys that you can only go as far as you want. The door to that is still opened if you all would like to go through it."

"You would rather take Jet than to have your friends, best friends I might add, along with you? The ones who have helped you out of the frozen ice, helped rescue Appa, trained you in all Bending elements, created cool inventions to fly, and the others who helped us escape from Azula's prison?" Sokka questioned, amazed that he would even consider this option.

Without a thought Aang said, "No, that is something I don't want to happen. You have all been with me and believed in me for so long that I would trust you with my life; but you cannot ask me to let someone die…no matter what they have done. I am going to talk to Jet, and if anyone of you guys leave then I will hold no grudges against you—neither will anyone else." He looked at each and every one of them, turned his back on them, and left his friends to think about his offer. He quickly felt Angel footsteps coming toward him as he went inside the tent to put on his Airbending clothes. Katara walked in quickly behind him, just as he barely put it on. He gazed at her, happy to see her smiling at him like she always did when a new day began. She rushed over and embraced him, with her head laid up on his chest. His arms wrapped around her, not really sure why he deserved it after what he just said to all of their closest friends.

He kissed her on top of the head, and sighed into her sweet ocean fragrance. "Still trust me?"

She grinned against him, "Always…I know you are going to talk to Jet, and I want to come with you." Katara felt him instantly stiffen up with the heat rising off of him.

"Why?"

Katara looked up at him, "For moral support." He smiled a little, and together they both went towards the hole as the rest of the group talked amongst one another.

OooooOooooOoooo

"Katara, it is a pleasure to see you again so soon. I guess I left a pretty good impression on you since you came back to me." Jet said to piss Aang off, and he could easily tell that it was setting him off.

"Not as much as what I left you with." she pointed out towards the dent in his metaled face and dried up blood.

He smiled, "a hit that I would gladly take again for a kiss from you." Jet winked at her. Katara felt the same rage that Aang was feeling, but she stopped him from losing control. Trying to help remind him why they came down here.

The Air Nomad breathed his hate out, and walked up to him. "Jet, we need your help."

This didn't seem to surprise the prisoner, "Really? Do you need me to take care of Katara for you then? I'm sure she could use a real man right about now."

Aang's hands tightened into a ball, not understanding why he was getting angry so easily. Maybe his friends were right…and then he felt a hand on his shoulders. Katara whispered something to him and he nodded to her. He took a few steps back, letting her take the lead.

"You know what Jet if you want to stay chained up here then be our guest. Because I guarantee you that you won't last long in her, especially with a mob who desperately wanting to blame someone for their missing children. You once said that you aren't our enemy and you now have a chance to prove that to us, to me." she said.

He tilted his head to the right, "Oh? How so?"

"You are the only survivor that has ever lived and even though you believe your memory is lost, you know that I can help you; and you can help us find these so called _Death Stalkers_."

Jet was silent, as he looked at her and then Aang. "No."

"What?" Aang yelled as it echoed in the tunnel.

"Is there another secret code for saying NO in the Airbending tongue?" he criticized, "I would rather die than to help you two find them!"

"Maybe death will find you sooner than you think!" Aang backfired, wishing that Jet would stop making him feel infuriated. He knew the Spirit of Ozai was messing with him, and he was feeding off of his temper.

"Aang!" Katara yelled at him, and turned back to Jet. "You have to help us, before this War gets worse. I am asking you to please do this, _please_."

Jet was now very intrigued, "Hmm…why should I be concerned with the state of the World? That's the Avatar's job, right?"

"It's everyone's job Jet! Aang is supposed to bring balance to all four Nations, and we can all make it easier on him."

Jet thought about it for a second and then began to chuckle, "what makes you think that I would help someone like _him_, when he didn't stop the Fire Nation from destroying my home? My family. Why would I make it easier for him, when my life was ruined?"

"You think you are the only who lost someone? I lost my Mother because of the Fire Nation, but it wasn't Aang's fault!"

The Assassin raised an eyebrow, as if he just found her weak spot. "Do you really believe that Katara? Are you telling me that after meeting Aang, and knowing that if he lived during his hundred year disappearance that he could have prevented the War and in doing that he could have saved your Mother?"

Katara hated that Jet knew how to manipulate someone memories and turn them against the people that she loved, but more than anything he hated it when he was right. There was a time in her life after meeting Aang that if he had been around, he could have truly prevented the War, and Kya's death. But she never though about it again after that, because she learned that Aang lost everything that he had too; Monk Gyatso and the rest of the Airbender's that had become his own family. She looked back at the fourteen year old whom she was fallen in love with, and she saw the face of shame in his dark shadowy eyes.

The Waterbender looked back at Jet, and decided to be honest with him. "There was a time in my life that I did, but I still believed in the Avatar. You think you lost everything, but what makes you thing Aang didn't? You may know the history of Aang, but you don't know the first true thing about him! He lost everything and everyone he cared about, and you don't think that he regrets running away too?"

"Only cowards run away, and innocent lives were paid for _his_ mistakes!"

Aang moved Katara out of the way, "you are the one to talk Jet; especially since you sacrifice innocent people in order to get rid of the Fire Nation." Aang said so darkly that it sent chills down Katara's spine, just as he did in her dream.

"Go to hell!" Jet said.

"_You_ first!" Aang retorted back to him, getting angrier and angrier.

"Aang!" Katara yelled at him, and he looked back at her. He was indeed angry, because he had once told her that even though he doesn't dwell in the past, it didn't mean that he could easily forget it. Katara cut to the chase before these two would fight it out, "The way I see it Jet, you have two choices: stay here in these chains and slowly die by these Earthbenders, or you can help us fight this war before it even begins."

Jet was quiet again for a few minutes, and finally he made a devilish smile underneath his busted up metal face. "I'll help you…if I hear it from Aang himself."

In the beginning Aang was all for helping Jet and was going to be the one to ask him to join them, but he would rather face Ozai's wrath again than to ask for his help. Katara had tried to help him, but maybe his friends were right. Maybe this was a very bad idea after all. He looked over at the Waterbender who had done so well at building the Prisoner up to this point and now all he had to do was ask for his help…easier said than done. He felt cool hands on his bare right shoulder, and it made him come out of his own trance.

"Everything okay?" she whispered so that Jet couldn't hear their conversation.

"…Maybe this isn't a good idea Katara. He obviously doesn't wan to help, so why should we help him when he doesn't care about us, or the others of this World?"

"But this was your idea" she reminded him.

Aang nodded, "I know, but now that I am here I don't know if I can handle a guy like him. He is very good at making you feel guilty for your own, or remind you of the pain. He knows how to undermine us…"

This indeed was a struggle for the Monk to do the right thing, and Katara had to remind him of why they needed him, even thought they didn't want him. "Aang look at me," but his focus was on the chained up Hit Man, "Don't look at Jet, I need to focus on _me_." The Airbender put his hands into a ball, and then finally looked back at her. "Deep down you know that this is our chance at finding the enemy, and I know you don't want him to die down here…even if he may deserve it" she hinted to Aang which made his eyes soften a little, but he still wasn't his normal self. He nodded, and let out a gasp of air as he walked back to Jet. He looked into those dangerous eyes of his that would make you shiver in fear, but there was so much arrogance behind them too; as well as pain, and torment…however his gut told him not to trust him.

"Either you come with us Jet, and help save the World or you can stay here. I am not going to plead or beg for you to come. It's a simple yes or no question." Aang finally said, not wanting to ask it again.

"Ha, all you had to do was say please, but this will do. I would love to accompany you, and Katara." Jet proclaimed, not letting them know that he was already willing to go with them.

Aang metalbended the chains off of the cave walls, with the sound of rusty metal hitting rocks. The Avatar broke the chains from his wrist, to which Jet quickly started to itch the raw, scabbed skin. Katara and Aang turned, with Jet behind them. Once the Waterbender was out of sight, the Monk stopped and got right into Jet's face. The Master Swordsman didn't even flinch with Aang's gray eyes blazing at him.

"Don't make me regret this." He gritted through his teeth, just in case Katara might be listening. "If you ever go near Katara or kiss her again, I will I promise, make sure that your life ends right then and there. _Permanently_." Aang starred at him, making sure that he was clear on this issue. He trusted Katara now, but trusting Jet is like saying a small spark could burn the whole forest down.

Jet only smirked, "I can't promise you anything, but you need to remember that _you_ need me. And who knows how long those sessions of healing for my memory will take…but don't worry; it'll be a real pleasure messing with you."

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang shook forearms with Tyro, "Thank you again Avatar for everything you have done for us. We owe you our lives."

The Airbender shook his head, with a half-smile "You owe me nothing my friend. Thank you for your hospitality." He said, and released his arm so he could look back at his Gang. Sokka had just tied off the last piece of cargo to the back of Appa's saddle. Jet was tied up once again by rope that Suki tied. Jet had three ropes around his neck that was tied off with his left arm behind his back that faced upward, which was also connected to the right arm which was tied in front of his chest and around his waist. The rope continued from his right arm to in between his legs and they were tied off three ways; one on the back of Appa's saddle, and the other two were tied to the holes on the saddle. The trick was to make sure that if he moved, he would end up hurting himself to the point of possibly breaking a bone somewhere else. If he bent down, his left arm would be pulled up while he would be choked at the same time, and if he tried to get up half way, his right arm would be pulled, and the rope between his legs will tighten up. Suki said that she had learned how to tie rope since she was very small, it became part of their training as a Kyoshi Warrior; using the bodies force against itself. Even though she guaranteed he couldn't escape, they all sat near the top of the Bison's head, far away from the enemy.

"You know we can keep him here." Tyro suggested, seeing that none of us were really wanting Jet to come along for the ride.

Aang looked up at the older man, "As much as I wouldn't mind that, he will be safer with us. It's nothing personal, but I'm afraid that your people will take their anger and fear out on him to the point of death. I don't want that blood on your hands, or mine."

The white bearded tall man thought about it for a second, and then agreed with him. "I know I am asking a lot of you Aang, but I am begging you to please bring Haru back to us. I would follow you, but…"

The Airbender understood and completed his sentence for him, "your people need you too in this crisis; a leader that they can look too in times of trouble. Tyro I cannot guarantee anything, but I promise you this as the Avatar; I will never stop looking for him or the others until there is not an ounce of strength in me. No matter how long it takes." Aang swore, hoping it would be enough for the hurt Father who needed to stay behind and look after his people instead of looking for his son. It was a hard decision between being the Father and the Leader. This was something that Aang would never wish upon any Father; to choose between his only son, and his tribe who were so full of fear.

Aang then saw tears glistening in the man's eyes, and a slight smile underneath his beard. "Your word is more than enough for me Avatar Aang, and if you ever need anything from me please don't hesitate to send a Messenger Hawk. I will be there as fast as the Earth can get me there."

"I will. Oh and here." Aang said, handing him a small black Fire Nation bag full of money.

Tyro opened it, and his eyes became huge "what is this for?"

Aang shrugged, "Katara told me to give it to you, and to pass it along to the young woman who makes the clothing here."

Tyro nodded, "I will be sure to give it to her; you have my word on that."

Again Aang smiled, and then looked back at Katara who was the last one to climb up on Appa saddle. Tyro sighed, "You are a very lucky man to have someone like Katara in your life. Some people search their whole lives for a woman like her; brave, clever, full of love, and knows how to seek out the courage in you." Aang agreed with him. "Be careful Aang, I believe that there is something far more evil coming our way here shortly, and I fear that it will follow you and your friends."

OooooOooooOoooo

They didn't fly too long as they decided to go shopping once again, just so that Sokka would stop giving Jet the Killer look and the argument between them would stop. The tension in the Gang had risen to new heights, and Aang didn't like it one bit. They didn't stay at the market for too long either, just because they started to worry about Jet being alone with a Blind girl and a Wheelchair kid. Before anyone could say "Yip, Yip" they were already back in the air.

"So what did you do with my weapons?" Jet asked with a dry voice towards the arrow headed kid after another few hours of flying. Aang decided to go on ahead and buy some more clothes for him, since his others were about ready to jump off into the wind.

"Does it matter? There is no way you are getting it back right now, or _ever_." Aang said, with Katara sitting by his side and holding his hand.

Jet gave him a smile, "you may want to consider changing your mind on that. How will I protect myself or Katara for that matter?" he winked towards her.

The Water Tribe girl suddenly felt Aang tense up, and the heat of his body was flaring off of him once again. She grabbed hold of his toned right arm, and whispered to him "don't start it again Aang. He is just messing with you."

The Air Nomad looked down into her ocean blue spheres, and saw his own reflection in them as the fire was starting to dowse out in his stormy eyes. He nodded, and went back to ignoring Jet the rest of the time as he continued to taunt him. And after a long while, they all couldn't take it anymore. They landed, and tossed Jet down Appa's tail hearing him grunting in pain the entire time. The Gang jumped off of the giant Bison, and began to set up camp hours before they normally would. Suki headed towards the Hit Man, and untied him because she was the only one who knew how to do it without breaking any bones. Aang, Sokka, and Zuko to held him down in case he wanted to try and escape and then dragged him to a tree, which was any easier than holding down a platypus bear. Before the end of Suki's training, she had learned of a few new tricks from her last six months on Kyoshi Island. She told the Gang that she could do it without rope, but she knew that it was better safe than sorry.

The boys pulled Jets legs on both sides of the tree, not any bigger than any of their arms, just as the Kyoshi Warrior instructed. Zuko then lifted him up a little under the arm pits, where he sat at a ninety degree angle. Suki then grabbed his left leg, and hoisted it up underneath his right. She then wrapped his right leg around the tree, underneath his butt, and then told Sokka to ease him down gently. Suki then asked Sokka to push down onto his shoulders, and he was locked in place.

"Okay, you guys can let go of him now." She smiled at them, but they still clung onto him. "Trust me." The boys all looked at each other, and very slowly released him.

Jet then started laughing, "Do you really think this can hold me? Please, all I have to do is—" and then he stopped. He tried to move his legs, but they were far too tight to even try to adjust. The Assassin tried hoisting himself up, but again the grip of his legs were far too tight and it was causing some pain in his joints. "What the hell?"

The Kyoshi Warrior smiled confidently to him, and then said "not so easy is it?"

Soon the entire group was laughing at Jet as he tried to wiggle his way out of the tree for the next few minutes, grabbing pieces of grass to help loosen up his grip but he finally stopped as the pain in his legs began to burn. After laughing tears were wiped away, Suki handed the rope to Zuko for his hands. After capturing Aang in a rope, tighter than any Octopus could do. They had trusted him in this particular area; they were all very surprised to learn that Suki even knew anything about ropes. They were all just full of surprises.

Sokka then turned towards his fiancé and laid one right onto her lips. "Have I told you how much I love you Suki?" He hinted towards her, with his eyebrows rising up and down.

Zuko and Mai both began to gag at the sight of Sokka trying to flirt his way into the sheets with Suki. She only smiled at him, and whispered something into his ear and he instantly started to giggle like a little boy who was being tickled.

"Oh brother!" Toph said grabbing Teo's wheelchair and started pushing him away.

Katara became intrigued, "Where are you two heading off to so fast?" she said with her arms crossed.

It's called nunya! Nunya business!" she snickered at Katara, but the Waterbender knew that they were indeed getting closer everyday. Toph and Teo were spending more and more along time together, and they both seemed really interested in one another. The dark skinned girl wondered if Toph had even kissed him yet, and would she even tell her? The Waterbender just wished that Toph wouldn't pick up stupid lines like that from Sokka, who picked it up from the boys that wouldn't give out the information about Toph.

"Dinner is at six!" she yelled towards the couple.

"Okay _Mom_!"

Aang snickered a little, in which Katara turned to face him and before she knew it everyone had gone their separate ways. This was something that they would do every once in a while in new territory, to go out and explore the unknown, and it would also give them their "private times" as well.

"Doesn't she know how to keep her word after winning a bet?" Katara asked towards the Airbender who seemed to be off in his own little world.

He smiled at her, "do you really want me to answer a question that you already know the answer to? That's like asking if Sokka can stay away from meat for a whole day, let alone a whole hour."

The blue eyed girl smiled at the analogy, knowing well that there was one person in Sokka's life who knew how to keep his mind off of _anything_ for a few hours at least. It was awesome seeing everyone getting along with their companions, and especially with Toph and Teo. In so many ways they were right for each other. Teo was smart and calm, but knew how to pick his fights and still win even though he was a handicap; Toph was obviously the complete opposite, tough, and always rushing in for a fight to prove who the best of the best is. The young inventor was able to bring out the girlie side of the Blind girl in which Katara loved, because it was just a side that she didn't see all of the time. Except there was one time, in Ba Sing Se, when they did have a "Girl's Day Out" and Toph turned into such a beautiful young lady. She was happy the way Toph was, but it was always nice seeing that soft side of her.

The Waterbender looked back at Aang's spot, and discovered that he was no longer standing there with her at all. She quickly scanned the area, as if a Mother had just lost her child, but sighed with relief when she found him unpacking all of the Gang's things. Katara went over and helped him out, and with the stillness of the area around them, the dark haired girl mind wondered back to the dream that she had last night. It felt so real to her, and she could feel the heat and pain of everything around her. But the lingering of those words _Save him, or Aang will forever be lost_…how is she suppose to save him? The dream made absolutely no sense, because Aang would never become that kind of, monster. She knew about the whole Ozai Spirit in him, but he seemed to be handling it pretty well. Aang had told of her of the pain he would always feel, and that she should never be around him if it were to ever happen, but nothing had happened still. Maybe the Spirit was gone?

"Is everything okay Katara? You seem to be in a dream stage almost?" Aang said while setting up the second tent.

Katara didn't even realize that she had been helping him out this whole time; it was like second nature to her, in which she could do in her sleep apparently. "Yes, everything is fine. I am just a little bit tired that's all." She beckoned towards him, not completely lying to him. The dark skinned girl was indeed exhausted, but she was a little bit afraid to fall asleep again.

Aang gave Katara her favorite crooked smile, "You know one of the best things about knowing you so well, is that you become an _awful_ liar when you are around me. But I know you will talk to me when the time comes." He said to her, and then went back to work.

By the time they had set up camp, got the fire wood, and began cooking the Gang seemed to huddle back together with the smell of rice, mixed veggies, and some kind of meat that Katara picked up at Tyro's market. Sokka was the first in line as always, but he was nice enough to hand the bowl to his fiancé first before he started chomping down. Zuko and Mai came, and then Toph and Teo, and then Katara got herself a bowl of food. Aang told her that he wasn't too hungry that day, but he promised her that he would eat later on. After dinner, the boys decided to go off and have some training time with Aang, and Teo was willing to race the Avatar again since he had just customized his glider to a much more softer fabric that felt like silk, but strong enough to sustain the wind.

Once the boys left, Katara looked around and realized that this was the first time that any of them had actually had some girl time. It actually felt pretty nice in a way; not having to deal with Sokka's annoying musical arm farts, Zuko's grumbling with being away from the Palace, the sound of Teo's tools as he kept working on his wheelchair, and as for Aang…his silence is what drove the Waterbender mad sometimes. The girls were sitting around in a circle away from the huge pot of rice, with their empty bowl at their feet and the sound of fighting in the background.

"So you and Aang seem to be doing better." Suki said, to break the silence. She always seemed to be the one to do that sort of stuff, which made it a little bit easier on the other girls including Katara.

The dark skinned girl smiled, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"What?" Katara asked surprised a little.

"The way you said it, made it seem like it isn't?" the Keyoshi Warrior pressed. They had become like sisters, telling each other secrets, laughing, crying on the nights when she thought about Aang, and unfortunately she knew her all too well.

Katara laughed with a lie in it, "Everything is fine. I just worry about him sometimes…"

"You mean about his dreams?" Toph asked, causing Katara to glance at her. "Last night was the first time I didn't hear him moaning your name in fear, and constantly moving around. I gotta say it was pretty nice not hearing _Dream Catcher_ all night long."

The Waterbender rolled her eyes at her, and saw Mai look up from underneath her night sky bangs. It had come to her attention that Mai always seemed intrigued in everything that when on around them, but she had become too comfortable in the way she was. Silent and mellow toned.

Katara changed the subject, "What about you Mai? Does Zuko complain a lot to you about going back home?"

The pale girl made eye contact with her, and was a little shocked to be asked a question. She always assumed that she and the other girls didn't get along too well since they never really talked to her, but Mai still liked them in their own way. Katara seemed too much of an up beat person, Suki was like an interrogator, and Toph was…Toph. She finally spoke, "sometimes he does, but mostly he talks about finding his Mother." the girl said gloomily.

"Does this upset you?" Suki asked.

She shrugged, "Not really, but I feel bad that he can't go off and look for her with him being a Fire Lord now and all. He says that he knows that she is alive, but has no idea on where to look for her."

Katara nodded, remembering that time when they were in Ba Sing Se, and Azula tossed them down into the crystal caves. It was actually the one thing she had in common with Zuko; losing a Mother that you loved so much at a young age and never growing up with her around you. Zuko may have been her enemy back then, but that kind of changed her perspective on him a little. The Waterbender never really talked about it again with him, since it seemed to always bring pain back into their lives. It was nice to see the caring side of Mai, and anyone could tell that she truly loved Zuko very much.

"Have you managed to find any clues as to where she could be at?" Katara questioned.

Mai shook her head, "I found the best men I could find to help in his search, but they haven't found anything. They say that it is highly possible that she could have changed her name, remarried, live in a different nation, and so on. Zuko told them to stop looking for her…however he never did. I see him reading some of her old writings, and try to figure out clues through them. So far there is nothing that would link her through them."

Toph leaned back, and supported herself with both of her hands. "I'm sure he will find her."

"How would you presume that when Zuko doesn't even know where to star?"

The Earthbender popped her neck, "If there is one thing that _Hot Head _is good at, besides being in bed with you" she grinned secretly, which made Mai blush with her jaws clenching "is that he can track anyone, anywhere, anytime. I mean he always seemed to find us, and I gotta say that it got pretty annoying with him catching us all of the time, or sending Assassins after us like Combustion Man."

This actually made Katara laugh a little bit, because it was absolutely true. No matter where they went, he would find them with his obsession over restoring his affection for his father and the honor that went along with it. It's funny how things turned out for him once he joined up with the Gang, and he seemed to be the missing puzzle that helped them in their past; for her it was finding Yon Rah, he helped Sokka find their Father, and getting Suki out of the Boiling Rock Prison, and then Aang too, who both found the Sun Warriors and the Dragons that taught them the true essence of fire.

"She is right you know" Katara proclaimed, "If anyone can find her, Zuko is the one person I would bet my money on." She smiled politely to her, and Mai barely smiled but nodded with the reassurance of her, friends.

No one decided to ask Suki about their relationship, since Sokka seemed to brag about it all of the time and the fact that they always seemed to go to bed early more and more now. Plus, there were certain things Katara didn't want to know, and that included _everything_ that went on.

"What about you Toph? You and Teo seem to be getting close." Katara asked.

The blind girl blew her bangs out of the way, "This may be a therapy session on boys, but this is not the thing I don't want to talk about Sweet Cheeks." Toph figured that would shut them up and unfortunately she should have known better when she is around a bunch of girls who all have a husband, fiancé, and a boyfriend who might as well be her husband. Instead of putting out the fire of curiosity, she seemed to make it even bigger.

"Is that denial I hear in her voice?" Suki said like a little girl who just found out the guy of her dreams has a crush on her.

Katara giggled, "I think you are right Suki, what do you think Mai?"

Mai was back messing with her daggers and back to her old self as she said "hmm."

"Oh come on Toph! You guys have been at it for almost two years, and I am sure that you guys have at least kissed by now." The auburn haired girl spoke with joy in hearing about Toph and Teo, but the Earthbender didn't say anything as she curled up into a ball while resting her chin on her knees. "You have kissed, right?"

For once, Katara saw defeat in those pale green eyes of hers. It was a sight that she had never seen before, and the only word that came to her mind as she looked at her was _embarrassment_. Was she embarrassed that she had never kissed Teo, or was Teo ashamed to kiss her?

"See? This is what happens when I am surrounded by girls who only want to talk about their love lives! Maybe I don't want to have a relationship, maybe I haven't kissed a boy, and so what if I haven't? Does that make me any less of a girl if I haven't? We can't all have perfect guys in our lives _Fan_ Girl!" she said angrily to Suki, and got up as she stomped away from them with the ground shaking underneath the others.

Suki felt horrible for getting into her business, but sometimes she couldn't help herself with Toph. She and her budded heads sometimes and she was used to it, however this seemed to only upset the blind girl even more. "That was probably not the question to ask, was it?"

Mai didn't even look, "Nope" she said as boringly as possible.

Katara placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, "I'll go talk to her. She just needs to cool off for a second, and don't take it personally. Don't you remember your first crush?" she said, and this made Suki grin a little bit, knowing that it wasn't always easy knowing if a certain guy liked you or not. The Waterbender got up, and followed the imprinted foot steps that were plastered into the ground, and found her sitting on top of a rock that only went up to Katara's hips, and was big enough for two to sit on.

Toph heard her, "Unless you feel like becoming smashed to the Earth you will leave me—alone." She sniffled, and quickly wiped away her tears.

Katara gave a half smile, and continued walking until she hopped up on the rock to her left side "Guess that's a risk I'll have to take then" she said, but then they both sat quietly for a few minutes just listening to the animals and the gentle breeze around them. Toph continued to hide the water marks on her face, but the Waterbender knew this wasn't easy for her.

"…is it so wrong that I haven't kissed a boy yet?" Toph finally asked.

Katara looked at her, and grabbed her left hand. "No, Toph. There is nothing wrong with that at all, it just perhaps means that _maybe_ you aren't ready yet."

"What if I am, but" she paused for a second to find the right words "I'm too scared to try it?"

The Waterbender turned her head slightly, a little surprised to hear her say the word _scared_. "What is it that you are scared of?"

Toph licked her lips, not really sure why she was so nervous about this. "What if—what if he doesn't like me like that? What if Teo only wants to be my friend, and I ruin it all by trying to kiss him?"

Katara grinned widely at her and released her hand to only put it around her shoulder to put her at ease. "There is nothing wrong with being scared about this Toph, it only makes a little more nerve wracking. I think you are thinking about it too much, because I know without a doubt that Teo likes you. I mean what kind of a guy is willing to fight five or six guys who were making fun of you and get a black eye in the process, or who can handle with your sarcastic remarks? Call me crazy, but he is into you Toph."

"You really think so Katara?" she asked very sincerely, as if the wrong word would break the rock underneath them.

She nodded, "Absolutely. No guy would stick around if he didn't have a better reason than adventure and getting himself possibly killed. You may be able to read us Toph, but I know how to read a guy who likes someone."

"Ha! Says the girl who didn't realize her own true feelings toward a certain Twinkle Toes." Toph back fired, happy to be back to her normal self.

Katara let go of her shoulder as they both started to laugh, "That was a different situation! Aang was younger than me, and I never thought that he could turn out to be the one guy I would fall in love with."

Toph sat silent for a second, and then spoke "you know what I just heard was _blah, blah, blah, _something about Aang_, blah, blah, blah, _something about you being afraid."

Katara scoffed at her, but became very serious with her. "You are right, I was scared. But it was only because after losing him and bringing him back to life, that I realized my feelings for him and I feared that our relationship would mess things up with his destiny; however, destiny has a funny way of showing you things. I guess my only advice is don't wait too long before you tell him how you feel Toph, don't repeat the same mistake as me."

"Pshh! You are making it sound like I am in _love_ with Teo, or something." She laughed at those words, "You're hilarious!"

"You may not want to admit it to yourself Toph, just like me, but I got to say that for a blind girl who can feel everyone else's emotions, you ignore your own heart."

The Blind Bandit sat there again in her own stillness, as those words hit her directly. Was she actually in love with Teo? After almost two years of being friends, could she fall in love so easily? Her mind said absolutely not, but her heart beat a different noise. She quickly composed herself, and suddenly punched Katara. Unfortunately her force was a little bit too hard, and she ended up sending the Waterbender off of the ground and into some dry leaves.

"Ah!" she yelled, "Really Toph, _really_?"

The Blind girl lifter her palms up to the sky and shrugged, "What?" she said hopping off of the rock, "you know that's how I show affection."

Katara rubbed her shoulder, knowing that it was definitely going to bruise up a little. "Well, you couldn't you have found a softer ground for me to land on at least!"

Toph shook her head, "nah, then there would be no fun to hearing you hit the ground softly. I hit Aang with the same amount of force, and he still sounds like a complaining girl."

"Yeah, but I bet he lands on softer grass." She mumbled a little, wanting so badly to hit her with water. But before she could conjure up that liquid she heard the words, _thank you_ from the girl who was holding her hand out towards her. After hearing those two little words, she realized that it was well worth the hit to see her like that. Toph was growing up to be a beautiful girl, and with her black hair getting longer she had always wondered what she would look like with it down. _After_ it was washed, combed, rewashed, and re-combed again. Toph may not see herself in a pretty manner, but Katara knew just how beautiful she truly was, and she believed that Teo knew how to make her feel that way too. He would always be looking out for her, and from the corner of his eyes he would just gaze at her sometimes. Teo was in love with her natural self, which was rare to find a guy like that, and those two seemed just right for each other.

The young Waterbender grabbed her hands, as she pulled her up. "Not really no" Toph laughed to herself. Katara dusted off the leaves in her hair and clothes, and then they both began to walk back towards the camp.

"Do you think I'm pretty Katara?" she questioned while placing her hands in her pockets.

The blue eyed girl looked at Toph, who was now her height. She had grown up so much, not really matured, but that still didn't mean that she couldn't change. "Why would you ask that question Toph? You said you really didn't care about that stuff."

Toph quickly nodded it off, "Well I don't, but what if—Teo does?" she said sadly, "I'm sure he's been around much prettier girls than me, and sometimes I just doubt myself because of that reason."

Katara stopped her, and made the Earthbender look straight at her…in a manner of speaking. "Toph, you are the most naturally beautiful girl that I have ever seen before. You have absolutely no reason to doubt yourself and I know that you don't, but more than anything you are just scared. I know how you feel Toph; it's not easy knowing if a guy likes you or not…believe me."

Toph barely grinned, "Thank you Katara."

This surprised the dark skinned girl, "For what, telling you the truth?"

She shook her head "no, because you didn't say I'm the most beautiful _blind_ girl that you have ever seen."

Katara smiled, "you know that you are more valuable to our family than that Toph! Without you we would have never gotten this far if you hadn't joined up with us. We were already a good team without you, but with you, we became…" Katara thought about it for a second and took words from Sokka, "The Fearsome Foursome."

Toph laughed, "Ha! You got that right Sugar Queen, without me Air Head over there would _never_ be the Earthbender he is today! And we need a better calling name than that one by the way."

"There's the Toph I remember!" Katara said joyfully, happy to see her old friend again before they finally reached their destination where another fire was set up around the circle that the girls sat around. The boys were all hot and sweaty from their training with Aang, who looked exceedingly tired and tried not to show it to his friends; even Teo looked a little worn out, Katara guess that Aang must have given a thrill of flying. The boys began to chow down on the food that was lukewarm now, but they didn't care. Aang ate a little bit, but not enough compared to what he normally eats. Katara went over, and sat next to her Airbender who was burning hotter than the flames that were only a few feet from her.

He kissed her on top of her head, smelling the pink carnation flower in her hair still. "So, how was your day?"

She bit her lower lip to hide her smile, "More successful than I predicted." Katara hinted towards Toph and Teo. Teo was looking at her with a smile that only Toph would love, and Toph only seemed to be looking straight at the fire, but looks can be deceiving with her.

Aang chuckled to himself, "ah, I see what you mean. Teo seemed to have the same idea too."

Katara turned and looked up at him, "You mean—"

"Yup. That's why we all left; he apparently needed some 'guy' advice."

"And, what did you have to say?" she asked curiously.

"Umm…he just asked all of us about relationships. Sokka said to remain aloof and wear armor around Toph, Zuko said to just keep being himself, and she will eventually come to you."

"Well what did you say?"

"Ugh—I…no, it's too silly."

"Well, I want to know" she said, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

Aang tried to hold back his smile, "now that's not fair."

Aang wrapped his right arm around her and then moved a strand of hair behind her right ear. "He just asked me if I ever got these weird feelings when I am around you…I then answered him with a _yes_. I told him about how after waking up in your arms a hundred years later, it felt like I was coming home again. And after spending months with you in traveling I began to notice that those feelings kept on getting stronger. I went from having a small crush on you, to liking you, then really liking you, and within a blink of an eye, I knew I had fallen in love with you. I told him that those feeling never go away when you find that one person you know you are destined to be with."

Aang was always full of surprises when he gave advice, and he seemed to say it with such a gentle love. "What kind of feelings though?"

He kissed her on the nose, "the feeling of knowing that life will never be the same without you in it. Feeling of when I look at you, I feel completely terrified but courageous at the same time. You allow me to see the World through your eyes, but you also see who I am. And when I kiss you…I don't even think the Spirit's themselves could ever make something so sweet that it intoxicates you."

The Waterbender was now blushing wildly, "You said that?"

Aang gave her that crooked smile again, "No. I just told him that sometimes you have to show her how you feel, and pray that it works."

Katara opened her mouth, but smiled as hit him in the chest. "Oh, yeah like you were any good at telling me how you felt."

Aang gave her an odd look, "actually I did, but you didn't hear me."

"What, when?" She asked, trying to recall a time when he did try to tell her how he felt, besides the time at the play in the Fire Nation.

"Aunt Wu's Village. She was doing a cloud reading, and I pointed out that a certain cloud looked like a flower."

Katara tried to remember, but shook her head. "Why don't I recall that?"

Aang sighed happily, "because you were paying attention to Aunt Wu's prediction in the clouds; how it would be a good crops this year, nice big harvest, a great year for twins, and that the village would not be destroyed by the volcano. The crowds cheered, and that's when I told you that I liked you, but more than normal. I waited to hear your reaction, but you weren't even listening to me as you held a big grin on your face and ran towards her to get another reading."

The dark skinned girl brought her eyebrows together, "do you remember everything?"

The Air Nomad laughed quietly again, "only the memories I have with you; I cherish everything with you, good or bad."

Katara smiled and bit the bottom of her lip, because she did the same thing too. She then put her left hand on his hot cheek, and kissed him passionately, but the protective brother had to interrupt everything like always.

"Come on you two, at least wait until my food has the time to digest!" Sokka roared out to them while holding Suki by the waist.

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, "later on then" she whispered to Aang, and saw the acts of hope in his eyes.

Toph decided to interrupt the love birds, "well someone should go feed the guy tied up to a tree over there. I can hear his stomach growling, and I gotta say that Sokka's couldn't even win against him."

"Hey!" he said to her, "my stomach can be just as loud as his when it hasn't eaten in hours!"

"Or minutes." Toph said, and this caused everyone to chuckle at him.

Katara voted herself, "I'll go first, and we will switch on the job. One person will hand him some food a day." She got up, and got the bowl of rice in her hand, but before she could walk Aang stopped her by grabbing onto her right hand.

"Let me come with you, I don't want him to get any ideas." He hinted to the memory of a certain kiss that had set him off, and ruined things with them almost.

Katara shook her head, "I'll be fine Aang. If he wanted to get out so badly, he would have done it by now. I can take care of myself; don't forget I am a Master Waterbender."

Aang thought about it for a second, but she could still see doubt in his eyes. Jet was very clever and he did not want her to go alone. He trusted her, but Jet would never be able to regain that honor of being his friend. The Airbender had once looked up to him seeing as how he fought against the Firebender's to protect the innocent, but the innocent people really didn't matter to him at all. His mind was so twisted up with anger, and pain that it had become his only friend and he would do _whatever_ it took in order to take down just one Firebender. Aang hand released hers, and walked over to the tree where I was. The air had suddenly gotten colder as she went closer to him, just twenty yards away from the camps fire.

His dark brown eyes looked up at her, "ah, finally! You know I have a little itch on my back, maybe you could scratch it for me seeing as I am tied to a tree." He said jokingly through the piece of metal on his face.

Katara placed the plate in front of him, with enough room to where he could reach it but not able to touch her. "Eat up."

Jet looked around to see not chop sticks, "how do you expect me to eat this when my hands are tied, and I have no utilities to eat it with?"

The girl shrugged at him, "well if pigs can find a way to do it, then I'm sure that you can fit right into that category somehow."

"You _really_ hate me don't you?" he asked with a serious face, as he picked up the food.

"I don't hate you, I pity you."

"Hmm, you pity me…well I guess I will take what I can get from you. It's a start at least."

She crossed her arms, "there was never a beginning with us Jet, and there won't ever be one. Eat up before it gets cold." Katara turned and walked away from him, but then stopped and walked back to him. "You better realize which side you are on Jet, because I promise you that if you do anything to hurt Aang, those _Death_ _Stalkers_ will be the least of your worries."

Jet seemed to be enjoying this a little too much, "Mmm, I might actually enjoy that threat." He winked at her, and before he was about take a bite of rice from the bowl he was lifting towards his face, Katara grabbed it out of his hands. "I was actually gonna eat that you know."

"Jet please stop doing this. I can never fall in love with you like I am with Aang, so please stop with these games."

The Assassin clenched his jaws, "what makes you think this is a game Katara? I know what I want, and I'm not going to lose you a third time."

The Waterbender sighed in anger, and walked squatted down at him as she handed back his food. "You can't force love Jet, because in the end it really isn't love at all. Look, I don't want to fight with you anymore, but I can never forgive you."

"Why? I died saving Aang, but death won't even let you give me another chance?"

"Jet you have no idea how deeply you hurt me. It got to the point where it blinded me from loving someone else, and it wasn't until I brought him back to life that I realized that those feelings I had been hiding to protect myself, had finally resurfaced. I can't forgive you, because of who you have become now. You're a killer Jet, and even back when you were a Freedom Fighter that was your nature back then too…I was too naïve to realize it."

The brown haired boy looked up at her, and then looked at his metal face with the moon glistening off of it. Before he could say another word to her, she got up and walked off determined this time not to go back. Jet looked back down at the bowl of rice and placed it down on the green grass. He thought about all of the kids he had kidnapped, parents he had to slain in order to get them, hearing Mothers and Fathers crying out to their lost children. Every night he would see their faces over, and over again as he slept or at least tried to. This was never the life he wanted, and he had Long Feng to thank for that matter. The old Jet had died, and became a Monster, Killer, and now he had nothing. Katara was in love with Aang, and he was still in love with her too. She would never have him, that was clear enough, but that didn't mean he was going to stop trying.

In his training he had learned that if he failed, he would be brutally beaten until they left him barely breathing and bleeding on the floor until he finally realized that failure was never an option with this clan. Jet knew what he had to do, but it wasn't going to be an easy task. He would complete the real mission he was sent here to do. It's the only way he would ever be able to truly leave the _Death Stalkers_, and at long last find the Rough Rhino's; the ones who killed his parents, as he watched them from a distance scream with fire consuming them. If he didn't get Katara, then he would steal her and make her his. All he had to do was one other matter, and then Long Feng would give him the location of the Rough Rhino's, and Katara would forever be his. Sometimes the smallest amount of doubt in a relationship can be mightier than the bending of any element. Jet then took off his mask, and ate the rice as quickly as he could while watching his target.

"_Soon,"_ he thought to himself,_ "soon I will have what I have always wanted, and more."_

Katara had just joined back up with the Gang, who were laughing and just enjoying themselves as always. Aang asked if there were any problems, in which Katara shook her head in response. She knew that Aang didn't like Jet, and neither did she, but she had to do something to keep the peace between the two. With Ozai's evil Spirit in him, she didn't know what he was capable of. He told her that if the good in his heart ever faded, he would take over his body. Aang had also mentioned that sometimes he would attack him when he was weak or hurt, but she had never seen that happen.

Suddenly Toph stopped in the mid-sentence of her ghost story, with the posture of her back went straight up and her hands quickly to the ground. By now everyone knew that Toph could hear someone coming towards them.

Teo put a hand on her left shoulder, "Toph, what is it?"

"I—I hear…a flute, banjo, bongo, and lots of footsteps."

"Your powers of perception are frightening." Sokka said, not really sure if her special gift worked anymore.

"How far out?" Zuko asked.

"About twenty yards" Toph said confidently in her range.

They all became quiet, and listened with the sound of the fire cracking at their feet. At first there was nothing, but then they heard singing. _Rum-buh-dum, da-da-dum, de-dum, don't fall in love with the traveling girl, she'll leave you broken broken hearted!"_

The music stopped, as five adults came into their sight. One of them pointed out to them, "hey hey, fire people!" he said in a voice that Sokka would never be able to forget.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Sokka said in a disgusted tone as he looked out towards the ban of _Carefree_ traveling nomads.

**Okay, so the only reason I let Katara see the dream that Aang was having was because of their strong bond with one another, and I figured that she should have the same dream, but with a warning that could PERHAPS change his future. And I'm guessing you guys can tell that Jet is _still _with the Death Stalkers, and he obviously has another plan in store for the gAang. I know some people don't like this side of Jet, but you have to understand that he was literally brain washed persay, and he has lost who he is. Will Katara be able to help him, or will he follow through with his true mission?**

**So I figured it was time to bring some old friends back from their past again, and give you guys a better, upbeat chapter which I've already started brain storming on. I'm going to try and bring back some fun and laughter in the next one as best as I can :) Hope I surprised you guys with the Hippies coming back, and I will put another chapter up ASAP. Especially now that I don't have school till January 20th! ****Whelp, you guys know what to do! Comment/review or email me if you want to; whether you liked it or not. I do read all of the reviews, and I look forward to reading what you guys have to say. Sorry again for the long wait, but I kind of HOPE it was worth it sorda.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey everyone, got another chapter up much faster this time! Wow! Thank you all so much for the comments you guys have posted for you me! You are ALL awesome! I love how more and more people are wanting to read this, so thank you all again for helping me out! Welcome all of you newcomers, and I look forward to hearing more comments from you guys in the future. I do not own anything of A:TLA, but I still love the show. Sorry for any bad grammaring, mispelled, or repeating words. We eneded in the last chapter with the Traveling Nomads coming towards the gAang. ENJOY!**

"Chong, Lily, Moku!" Katara yelled towards the group, as the memories of the traveling Nomads stopped in front of the fire.

Chong leaned his head to the left, "you know our names Fire People?"

"We're not Fire People" Katara said just as she stood up.

The leader scratched on top of his long hair, "you're not? Well then what kind of people are you?"

Aang laughed to himself, remembering that it was his turn to say something. "Just people."

"Aren't we all brother!" he waved his hands in the air as if making a rainbow appear before them.

Zuko and Mai looked at each other and realized that they already didn't like these so called Traveling Nomads. They seemed so far out of it, and looked like they didn't know what was going on half of the time.

"What in the world are _you_ doing here Chong?" Sokka yelled to him while pointing a finger at him.

"Do I know you?" he leaned into Sokka face, just inches away and mouth hanging open.

He immediately stepped back for more personal space, "yeah! You made us follow you into that cursed Cave of Two Lovers!"

"Hey, did you know that place is cursed?" Chong reminded him, like he had heard nothing that he just said. Sokka slapped his forehead so hard that a hand print started to form immediately.

Katara giggled, "so what are you all doing here?"

Lily spoke up, "this piece of paper says so! Told us to _tsae og_" She held up an old piece of vanilla paper, with tons of lines, a compass on top, and the fact that they were holding it up side down.

Sokka snatched it, "give me that! Maybe you should read it from left to right, not right to left, it says _go east_!"

"Oh! Right, right!" she said out loud to the group.

The Warrior rolled his eyes and went over to the fire for better lighting as he squatted down to look at it quickly and get these idiots out of here. But when he looked at it, everything was backwards. He wasn't sure what it read, but he could make out some of it. He looked over at his sister, "Katara, can you make a mirror out of water?"

His sister nodded, recalling that she did that when she became the Painted Lady. The Waterbender grabbed the water from the ground, and stretched it into her hand until it was reflecting. He got up, and put the map in front of it to where he could see it more easily.

"What does it say Sokka?" Toph spoke, who was still in her same spot while the rest of the Gang surrounded him.

"_Ye shall find whatever he wishes if he so seeks it. But there be many traps to finding Captain Ty's treasure."_ Sokka quoted, and his eyes became big, "IT'S A TREASURE MAP!"

"Look Lily, they found a treasure map!" Moku said in a jolly manner.

"Wait, whose Captain Ty?" Aang asked, not sure if this captain lived during his one hundred year disappearance.

Chong looked at him strangely, almost as if he was remembering him for the first time. "Captain Ty was one of the most ruthless pirates known in all nations; it is said that he stole Kings and Queens most valuable possessions, but some say that he was a ghost because fog always surrounded him!"

Katara raised a brow, not sure if she even remembered that certain pirate. "Is this real, or a legend?"

"Oh it's a real legend! And the treasure is as old as three hundred years!" he said, and then suddenly began playing a new tune that sounded just like the Cave of Two Lovers.

"_Two hundred men set sail on the ocean sea_

_with Captain Ty as their leader._

_They roamed and stole all that they could find,_

_Knowing full and well that they weren't very kind._

_The weather started getting rough,_

_the giant ship was tossed, if not for courage of the fearless crew_

_the treasure would be lost; the treasure would be lost…_

Yeah I forget the next part, but the ending goes, _SECRET TREASURE, secret treasure, secret, secret, secret, secret treasuuuuuuuuuuure! Yeah!"_

Sokka rolled his eyes while everyone but Mai, Zuko, and he clapped for an encore. "You know, that sounds like the same old tune you played for us when we went into that Cave of Two Lovers!"

"Really?" Chong asked, "here let me sing if for you then to see if that is so.

_Two Lovers forbidden from one ano—"_

Everyone looked over at Chongs banjo, realizing that Mai threw her dagger onto the string and detaching them. The Leader laughed, "whoa! That was a close one, for a second I thought you were aiming for me!" He said with a smile, and took off his banjo only to have his wife Lily hand him another.

Mai whispered over to Zuko through her teeth, "I don't miss." This only made Zuko smile, and then kissed her gently on the cheek.

Sokka wished that she had aimed a little bit higher, but that would be wrong…maybe they can make it look like an "accident?" The Water Tribe Warrior shook the idea from his head, knowing that it would linger there still. His eyes darted back to the old leather with backward words, and then stood up while tucking it into his pocket.

"I think we should help them, they look like they could use it."

Zuko gave him a dirty look, "you just want to find the treasure!"

Sokka tried giving him a shocked face, "I am appalled that you would think that! Aang's job is to help _everyone_, and these people won't last the night without us helping them seek out this real legend treasure!"

The Airbender laughed, "come on Sokka, we have more important things to worry about than old treasures stories."

"But what if there's gold, or diamonds in it?" Toph teased, knowing that it would make the curiosity flame in Sokka grow.

"See?" Sokka said, "if we don't help these Nomads, they could get hurt and I know you don't want that on your conscious Aang!"

Teo spoke, "I think we should do it." Everyone's eyes looked at him, "it sounds kind of fun actually, and what do we have to lose in finding this treasure of Captain Ty?"

Toph agreed, "how bad could it be? I mean we already have the map in which is _only_ Sokka's talent."

"Hey!"

Aang rubbed his strong chin, "I don't know guys…"

"Please Aang?" Sokka begged, as he made his blue eyes grow bigger and moisture in them. He got down on his knees and clasped his hands together as if he was praying, "please, please, please, please, please, please, please, _PLEEEEEEEEEASE_!"

Katara giggled, "alright Sokka, we'll go." Aang looked over at her wondering why she would agree to this. She knew how important it was to find these Death Stalkers as fast as he could, and _now_ she wanted to go treasure hunting?

Sokka beamed up, "yay!" and he quickly went over to his tents to pack up his things, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Suki's smiling at him.

"I think we should sleep first Sokka, it's been a long day and we all need to get some rest." She said, and he tried to object her but realized that she was right. He was exhausted from training with Aang, and then the stress of the Traveling Nomads didn't help either. He nodded in agreement, and went into the sleeping bag with Suki next to him. All of the other couples followed their lead, and Aang stayed behind while Katara headed into their tent.

"You guys are more than welcome to stay with us, and we can start helping you with this map." He said with a smile, and feeling the drain of sleep on his body.

"Thank you Master Arrowhead!" Chong said, and just like that they sat near the fire and was asleep within a matter of seconds.

Aang smiled at the cheerful group, and headed into his tent with Katara already sound asleep on her side. He took off his Airbending clothes, and then lay down next to her. The Monk used his right arm as a pillow and put his left on Katara's waist with space in between them. The Waterbender reacted to his touch and scooted back into him until she felt the furnace on his chest. With her hair in his face, and the fragrance of the pink carnation flower filling his nostrils his eyes began to grow dark.

OooooOooooOoooo

For once Sokka was the first person up…three hours early. "Come on everyone! Up, up, up! We gotta go find the treasure—I mean help these Traveling Nomads!"

"Shut up!" Toph said, feeling a headache coming on. Her hair was in a huge mess, and Teo was sound asleep on the other side. He could probably sleep through an earthquake unlike her.

Sokka opened up her tent, "rise and shine! Come on you lazy bums, the sun is shining and our day is just flying by!"

Most of the time the suns heat would wake Teo up, but when he opened his eyes it was still dark. "Go away Sokka!" he yelled at him, and pulled his sleeping bag over his eyes and block out his voice.

Before the excited wolf tail boy stepped into the tent and tried to help wake them up, but it was pissing off Toph. She summoned the earth and pushed him out of the tent, causing him to go flying bison's side. "Oof!" The wind was knocked out of him as bounced off of Appa, who didn't even acknowledge that he had been hit. Sokka got up on his feet, gasping for air and still seeing that no one was willing to get up yet, and came up with a plan very quickly.

Aang didn't sleep to well that night, but having Katara facing towards him made his day a little bit better. Ever since his nightmares, he had come to realizing some things that his beautiful Waterbender did while she slept. She always seemed to sigh with a smile that followed right after for about ten seconds. If he even moved an inch, her body would react and come closer to him as if he was the blanket that kept her warm. The Airbender loved it when she talked in her sleep; she would always say the most random things in the world, but he loved it how Katara would say that she loved him twenty times out of the night. Aang kept sketching her face in his eyes, with every curve on her face, how many eyelashes she had, and the way her dark brown hair would fall into her face and make her nose twitch at the tickling. The bald Monk began to close his eyes again, hoping to get a few hours of sleep as his he still gazed upon her. But he was wrong.

The sounds of a flute being blown at it highest pitch, the bongo sounded like it was being kicked on the ground, and whoever was playing the banjo right now, Aang thought Momo could do far better than that person. The bald Monk tried to pay no heed to it, but that was virtually impossible. Katara jumped with a small startle, feeling her heart about ready to jump out her chest. She looked around in their tent, and finally her eyes caught those gray eyes of his. The Waterbender could already tell that he hadn't slept too well, and the purple under his eyes were starting to grow darker once again. The noise was still unbearable and she felt like freezing the person whoever decided to make their own alarm clock.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, "bad dreams again?"

Aang didn't say anything to her, but only gave her a small crooked smile as he sat up leaning on his hands. "Everyone has nightmares Katara, mine is no different."

Katara sat up too and place her head on his shoulder, while her left arm wrapped around his lower hips. "Do you want to talk about it?" she hinted towards him, hoping he would be at least willing to let her help him.

He slowly shook his head, and said "they are just dreams, nothing to worry about." Aang then kissed her on top of her head and got up quickly to put on his airbending clothes, trying to distract himself as he always did in the morning. Everyday it felt like the world was weighing on him more and more, making it seemed like he was on his knees now barely balancing it as held it up. Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his stomach and soft hair rest in between his shoulder blades, just above Azula's scar.

"You don't have to do this on your own you know?" Katara said, to help try to remind him. It wasn't easy for him to be the Avatar, especially when he still was burdened with his disappearance of a hundred years, in which Jet only seemed to make it worse when he asked her if she ever blamed Aang for her Mothers death. She saw the look at his face when she was honest with Jet, and the only word that she saw in those stormy eyes of his was shame.

The blue arrowed boy nodded and grinned halfheartedly, "I know, and when the time is right I will tell you everything. But for now, I need you to trust me; I know you hate being in the dark, but I am protecting you."

Katara let go of her Aang, and went on his right side. She placed her left hand onto his cheek and gently pulled him down to look at her. There was so much sadness, fear, and doubt in his Spirit, but she could easily detect that child light inside of him that still flared. "I'm tired of being protected Aang, I don't need it. The only thing that I want from you is to be honest with me, because I love you and I know without a doubt that you love me too. How many more times are we going to have to keep proving that to each other before it's too late?"

For a moment he didn't say anything, but took in the words that Katara had shared with him. Remembering the first time they met, how there was an immediate bond between them, watching their friendship blossom into a unimaginable love that people rarely find in each other. They had indeed been through so much, and maybe she did deserve the truth, but he didn't want to lose her. If he told her of his premonition, she would no longer be his anymore. He truly was doing this to protect her, but more than anything else he wanted to find a way to prevent it from ever coming true. It was his only goal now; however, would he give her up if it meant for her to live on without him?

Aang then bent down closer to her, and gently held her chin up as he kissed her tenderly, "You never had to prove anything to me Katara, I knew from the very beginning that you were the most special person I had ever met. I don't need any more proof of that, I can promise you that. I'll work harder on me part." He said, and kissed her one more time before they went out. The rest of the Gang looked just as tired as he was, but Sokka was more than awake at five in the morning.

Sokka dropped all of the musical instruments, "oh good you guys are up, shall we press on towards the treasure—I mean helping the Nomads?"

Toph's hair stuck up like a porky pine, and she did not look pleased at all. "If I wasn't so tired, I would beat the living crap out of you right now Maestro!"

The boy clapped his hands, "that's the kind of enthusiasm we need! Let's get going everyone, if this map is correct it's only some odd miles from here!" And without another word, Sokka had already packed his and Suki's supplies and began on everyone else's.

Katara giggled to herself and making Aang look at her strangely at what was so funny. "I can _never_ get him to do chores, let alone get up early, and now he's packing everyone's things just for treasure hunting…why didn't I think of that?"

Aang began to laugh as well, recalling how much Sokka loved his sleep and hated it when you even coughed while he was asleep. And before they knew it, Katara's brother had the tents rolled, sleeping bags tied to Appa's saddle, along with the dirty pots and dishes that he refused to clean because he said that time is of the essence right now. Sokka told them that they didn't need Appa to fly them, but that walking would make it a tad easier so that he can make the layout of the land more quickly than flying around on the arrow headed bison.

Sokka pulled up on his pack, "okay everyone got their packs? Let's go!"

"Umm, Sokka?" Suki said to make her fiancé turn around, "aren't you forgetting something?"

The Treasure Hunter scratched his head and began to name off things, "ugh, Momo-check, treasure map-check, pants on-check, Aang Gang-check, Giant Bison-check…nope I think we are good!"

Katara rolled her eyes, "we have two things we are missing. One is tied to a tree, and the other five are sleeping."

Sokka looked over at Jet, and the Nomads who were somehow sleeping _still_. "…we'll just take Jet, and be done with it." Katara cleared her throat and crossed her arms while giving him a dirty look. "Can we at least gag them or burn their instruments?" he asked, but his sister stood her ground. He then did the only thing her could think of, he begged. "Please, please, please, don't do this to me! I'll do anything for you, _ANYTHING_! Just don't make them come!"

Katara held back her smile at him, "Aang can you please go wake them, Zuko and Mai can you take care of Jet?"

They all nodded, but Suki decided to hop along with them. She said that they could break Jet's legs if they don't pull him off the tree correctly, which didn't seem like a bad idea; however Aang didn't want that to happen. Once they pulled him up, his legs released and they pulled him off of the tree. Suki knew that his legs were extremely sore and possibly tight, which will make it simpler for her. Aang put the saddle back onto Appa, and let the Kyoshi Warrior tie him back up the same way as she did the last time. Jet didn't say a word for once and just simply let them handle him.

Aang petted his Bison's nose, "you gonna be okay boy?" he questioned him, and Appa growled a little bit. The Airbender smiled, "we'll be back as soon as we can, and I'll call you when we are ready. Take care boy. Yip, yip!"

OooooOooooOoooo

The Gang had been walking around for hours, and Sokka wouldn't allow them to eat, sit, or even go to the bathroom. Which became ridiculous, but everyone wanted this to end as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"My feet hurt!" Teo said to lighten up the mood of the Gang, which in a way it did but not enough unfortunately.

Toph patted him on the shoulder and whispered to him, "I thought it was pretty funny." She smiled at him for encouragement.

"Sokka, this is ridiculous!" Katara said, "we need a break, we've been walking for five hours straight now."

"You know what you guys need?" Chong questioned, "a song to lift your spirits up!"

"NO!" Sokka yelled at them before Mai brought out her shiny daggers. "Look, we just went past the elephants ear, around the snakes tail, and now we are suppose to cross this bridge." He pointed out toward the wood and rope in front of them. It was a good fifty yard walk, and the rope looked even older than the wood did, and the bridge seemed to be missing some blocks to step on.

"Ever heard of termites?" Katara argued.

"_Ever heard of termites_" Sokka mocked his sisters' voice, "come on guys! We are almost there, and besides the bridge doesn't even look that bad!"

Zuko scoffed, "well what is your definition of _bad_?"

"Just shut up and come one!" Sokka said, and stepped onto the old broken platform. Everyone yelled "no" but he kept on walking, stepping slowly onto the wood knowing full and well that this was suicide. But his friends and the traveling nomads followed him blindly like sheep, and he was the Sheppard….that just sounded so strange to him.

Toph stepped onto the wood, not able to see a thing now and was going to depend of Teo to help her out. Teo actually insisted that she sit on his lap, since he told her that if his calculations were right, the bridge was going to break from all of their weight; even if it they were spread out it would fall no matter what. Toph didn't like the idea of anyone helping her, but he was actually the one person she was willing to let help her. She hopped right onto his lap with the feel of nothing but bones underneath her. It had never occurred to her that if you didn't use your muscles for years that they would soon become skinny and boney. In a way she pitied him, but who was she to say something like that; Teo had proven himself capable of anything time and time again even as a handicap. They were indeed a great team together, and even with their disabilities they used their gifts to help the Gang in their quests.

"You comfortable?" he smiled, feeling his heart skip a couple of beats and he didn't mind one bit if she felt his body change temperature.

Toph gave him a sweet grin that only he had ever seen, and suddenly her voice changed to an innocent nervous girl. "Um, yes," she said, hating that he made her nervous.

The young Inventor smiled, "trust me, I got you. But you might want to hold onto me though."

Sokka and the rest of the Gang were about half way there to the other side, with nothing but the wind as their only friend. The sound of old wood creaked underneath their feet with every slow step they all took, and the noise of old ropes being tightened to hold up the weight. Suki scanned the every step they took, and suddenly they heard a loud snap that broke the silence between them. They all stopped dead in their tracks.

"Please tell me that Sokka ripped his pants somehow!" Toph sarcastically remarked, holding tighter onto Teo's neck now.

For once Sokka wished that was true, "run!" he yelled, and once he took another step the wood broke underneath his feet and Sokka fell.

"Sokka!" Katara and Suki yelled, and then the sounds of all of the rope ripped out of the ground and they all fell with only a few feet behind the Water Tribe Warrior.

Aang looked down and quickly knew that they had about two hundred feet before hitting the water at the bottom. He thought about bringing the rocks together to make another bridge, but it was a high possibility of hurting one of his friends. The Airbender looked over at Katara, and there eyes met. Instantly they both knew that they were going to have to "catch" everyone by water. Aang had told Katara of it when Ozai blasted him towards the water, and brought up the water to catch him without getting hurt. The Waterbender nodded, and the Airbender looked at Suki. Even though she wasn't an Airbender, his glider would still work at this height.

"Suki!" Aang yelled, and opened his glider and guided it towards her. She had seen him fly on it so many times that she knew instantly what to do. Aang looked back down at the water and saw Katara making the water rise up already with a hundred feet to go.

"Ahhh!" Toph still yelled, and giving Teo a death squeeze. But instead of him screaming in fear, he just kept on laughing the whole time. Finally, with only seventy feet left he pulled the new lever on his right side that he had just built, and pulled it in an upward motion. Instantly, the handle behind his back went popped up with a crinkled triangle clothe above him. Once the cloth hit the wind, it stretched out into his new glider that he had been working profusely on, at it worked like a charm. The wind caught them, and gave a small jerk that made their bodies go down, but it worked out perfectly. Just as he always imagined it.

Aang looked over at the traveling nomads who had their bodies opened to the wind, and acting like little kids as they "whooped" through the air, laughing. Katara was able to catch Sokka very gently just as he had told her a long time ago. Aang and Katara were able to catch them all, as if they were catching a small egg. The water was freezing and there was the smell of fish, and at the same time fresh strawberries. The Airbender opened his eyes, feeling the sting of the ice water and was about to swim up until he saw something caught his eyes. Unfortunately for Aang, he wasn't really able to catch himself quite as good as the rest, but instead he fell deeper into the blue water.

Again the figure moved, and he was able to get a closer look at it. It was definitely a huge green fish fin, but if you looked farther up you, it suddenly became pale…like it was human and then a face with long hair that was a tad bit shorter than Katara's length. It swam up to him, looking very curiously at him. As it did, Aang realized it was a she; who had bright green eyes just like her fin, large clams that cover her chest, a very sweet face, and red hair that radiated with the sun. The Monks eyes became bigger as she swam up closer to him until she was inches from his face, and then he looked around to find more of these things surrounding him. Some had silver hair, black as your pupils' eye, green and blue hair as well; however, they all seemed to have the same color of eyes, and fins.

_What is your name stranger?_ a voice rang in his ear, and then more questions began to pour into his mind with many different tongues. _How many of you are you? What are you doing here? Where do you hail from? Why do you have blue arrows on you? Are you going to kill us? Why did you come into our waters? _

Aang opened up his mouth to speak, but only water came into his mouth and nose causing him to cough. He then started to swim up but was caught by the leg and brought back down with the others, and a second later the woman with red hair kissed him on the lips to give him air, but it was so much more than that. He quickly felt a tingling in his mind, like someone was scraping the sides of his mind and then it felt like some was pressing their fingers into it now. The Monk hadn't even realized that his eyes were shut until he opened them very quickly. He waterbended off of the half woman and then pushed himself up through the water, just like an eagle speed when it dives for its prey. Aang busted out of the water and landed onto his left side. He spit out the water in his mouth, feeling light headed and a massive headache that was storming inside of his own brain. Even though he coughed up the water in his mouth his throat felt so dry, and it felt like someone had drained his energy. He got up on all fours shaking his head constantly, hoping that his massive headache would disappear. Then Aang felt lots of footsteps coming his way, and then soft hands lifted his face.

"Are you okay Aang?" Katara asked in a panic, not sure why he was in the water for so long. He looked far paler, and extremely tired all of the sudden.

"Hey look, Master Arrowhead went for a swim?" Chong pointed out to his clan, and then you heard a lot of "ah's"

The bald Monk looked up at his friends, seeing that they were all dry thanks to Katara. He coughed again, still gasping for air. "I—I'm not sure?" he questioned himself.

"Where did you disappear to?" Sokka asked bending down next to his friend.

Aang shook his head, and got up very slowly with the help of Katara. Once he finally caught his breath he said, "mermaids."

"What?" everyone asked at the same time.

"Hey, hey, Mermaids!" Chong pointed towards them, and the entire Gang looked towards the water to see five women's heads looking at them all with their green eyes.

Sokka's mouth dropped, just as it did when he first saw Appa for the first time while everyone else's eyes were huge. Aang let go of Katara and moved towards them, "what did you do to me!"

The woman who kissed him spoke, "I apologize Avatar Aang, we did not realize you were an Airbender, or even knew of our existence."

"So you kiss me to find out?" he yelled at them, and instantly realized his mistake in doing that.

Katara felt anger swirl up in her with the image of her lips on Aang, "YOU DID WHAT?"

The gorgeous Mermaid smiled, "ah, this must be Katara; I've heard so much about you."

"Don't try and get into my good graces, I am a Waterbender and if you are not careful in what you say next I will freeze you right where you stand. Why did you kiss Aang?"

The red head laughed her musical voice, "to read his mind of course." She said as if it was not a crime for them to do this.

Sokka looked at her, "can you try it on me?" he asked, and then felt a slap in the head by Suki. "Ow! Yeah, I probably deserved that" he said rubbing the stinging area of his head while all of the Mermaids giggled at him.

"You could've just asked." Aang said a little bit nicer.

She shook her head, "again, I apologize Avatar Aang. But my friends and I are one of the few who are existing right now, and we cannot be too careful. You should consider yourself lucky though."

Katara crossed her arms, "and why is that?"

The red head showed her white teeth, "not many men can resist my kiss, but when I looked into his mind I saw you everywhere Katara. His heart truly lies with yours, and I must say that he is the first to ever pull away from me with success. Even men who are married never survive."

In a way that was a comfort to Katara, and she found herself smiling. "So you kiss men to find out who they are?"

She nodded, "yes. People will lie to you if you ask, but the mind never does. It is both a gift and a curse. We cannot always determine who is allowed to live or die…however; I read that you are seeking the Treasure of Captain Ty?"

Sokka ran towards them, and shoved Aang out of the way. "YES!" he bellowed out, making the girls giggle.

She beckoned them, "my name is Chiyo, and it would honor for us to help the Avatar; however, it is deep beneath us."

Zuko looked at them questionably, "but the map does not say that?"

"No it doesn't, but we know a short cut. The reason that no one finds it is because it is a few miles under water, and then you come up into a cave. That map that you are holding is one of the _many_ decoys."

"How do you know that?" Teo asked.

"Because we helped him long ago in hiding it." Chiyo remarked.

"He was worthy enough to live?" Toph said.

She shook her head, "he was a very old Viking, who instead made his son take his place instead as a deal. In exchange, he takes care of us."

"Viking?" Aang said, "no this man was a Pirate."

Again all of the mermaids laughed, "who do you think started those rumors?"

"Why does it matter if it's a Viking or a Pirate?" Sokka questioned.

"Because Viking are more stubborn and perhaps better treasure hunters than Pirates, plus they are just as clever and persistent as those so called 'high risk traders'."

"How deep is it?" Suki asked.

"About a good two miles." She said without hesitation.

Sokka clasped his hands together, "let's do this thing!"

"Sokka! We should discuss this." Katara said, giving him warning.

"What's there to discuss. You and Aang can make your water air bubbles while they drag us down, and then we get to the treasure! How hard could it be?"

OooooOooooOoooo

It was much harder than Katara and Aang could handle; as they got lower into the dark icy water, the pressure began to build up. The Monk had decided to swim with the Mermaids, while holding the bubble of air with his friends inside of it. He could hold his breath for almost five minutes, and was a very fast swimmer; however, he did not take into consideration of the cold water making his heart beat slower as he kept on swimming. Chiyo and her friends were fast and diligent which helped him as he pulled the Gang down with him. The water was becoming so dark that he couldn't see past his hand, but Chiyo grabbed hold of him and guided him in the deep. Aang was losing air fast, and even though he couldn't see anything, he felt himself blacking out. The blood in his head began to hurt, and the fire in his lungs seemed to only blaze even stronger. And before he felt the rocks brush against his back, he breathed in the water…

_Aang!_ he heard a voice say in slow motion, as he opened his eyes. His vision was very blurry, but he knew only one person could bring him back to life from drowning.

"Aang, say something!" Katara yelled at him as it echoed through the walls.

He coughed, "Katara. Don't ride the Unagai, not fun." He smiled at her, as she laughed at him and gently kissed him.

"When are you going to learn that you don't need to be the hero all of the time, huh?" she said with anger, but was just happy that Aang's heart was beating again.

Again he grinned at her, and looked around himself. Zuko was using both of his hands to hold the fire so that they could see. The cave had a lot of pointed rocks, the ground was actually warmer than he imagined, and the height of it was maybe bigger than anyone would possibly believe under water.

"Well we must be on our way" Chiyo said to them, "but if is alright with you Katara, I would like to have a word in private with Aang."

The Waterbender looked at her, and then back at the Monk. She didn't like the idea, but Chiyo seemed to be trustworthy enough not to do anything stupid in front of her. Katara nodded, and went over towards where Sokka and rest of them were, discussing what could possibly be in the treasure.

Aang got himself up, and sat at the edge of the rocks where it led back into the pitch black water. "There are many traps that lie ahead of you Avatar Aang, and you must be careful not to set off any booby traps. And when you see Tank, you must tell him that I sent you. He will know what to do."

The Monk nodded in acknowledgment, "this treasure, what is it like?"

Chiyo smiled, "I think it is exactly what you need Avatar. Perhaps you will find the answers that you are looking for."

Aang smiled and got up slowly, "thank you Chiyo for getting us here safely."

She bit the bottom of her lip to hold back a smile, "I would say that it was pleasure in kissing you, but I think your girlfriend would indeed freeze me for the rest of my life. I don't need to be a mind reader to see how much that girl loves you."

He laughed and nodded in thanks to her. The Monk turned around, but she called him back. "You shouldn't keep that secret from her Aang. She deserves to know the truth." His eyes suddenly became huge, forgetting that she probably went deeper into his mind than she should have. "I know you fear losing her if you tell, but that is not for you to decide. It's hers too."

Aang looked shameful at her, wishing that she had never gone that far. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't the Avatar. I wish that none of these things were to come true."

Chiyo did not judge him for think these thoughts, but instead gave him some advice. "So do all who live in dark times such as this young Avatar, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us."

Aang swallowed her words, "you know, for a Mermaid you have some decent words of wisdom. I am surprised that you are not an Airbender." He laughed to himself, and making her smile at what an honor it is to be called something of importance. Chiyo said goodbye and then dove back into the water leaving behind nothing but the ripples splashing up against the rocks.

The Airbender looked at the water for a minute and finally stood back up from where he was, still thinking that she would pop back up again to tell him something else. He finally turned and rejoined up with the Gang. Suki handed back his glider, and thanked him for letting her use it.

"What did she have to say?" Sokka asked.

Aang shrugged, "just to be careful of the booby traps, and to tell Tank that she sent us."

"Hmm, seems simple enough." Zuko protested.

They all agreed with that, and finally went about their way on foot. With the help of Aang and Zuko shining light in the cave, they could see just about everything. No one really spoke as they kept on walking; even the Nomads seemed to be quiet for some odd reason. Sokka was the leader in front of them, and he ended up tripping over a thin clear string. Everyone froze in place waiting for something to happen…and suddenly an old skeleton fell on top of Sokka.

"Ahhh!" Sokka screamed the pitch of a little girl, and it was so loud that they all had to cover up their ears with it bouncing off the walls, he didn't stop screaming until he was out of breathe.

"What the hell was that?" Zuko said, barely able to hear himself.

Sokka pushed the skeleton off of him, and got up quickly as he tried to compose himself a little bit. He rubbed his neck with his left hand, "umm…it would be really great if you guys didn't tell anyone about that."

Toph couldn't hold back her snickering, "everyone knew that you could scream like a girl, but I didn't think you could beat Aang out on that part!"

"Oh come on Toph!" Aang yelled, "they cast a girl for me in that play, and you still won't let it go?"

"Nope! They cast the perfect person for you Twinkle Toes, but I think they should've cast the same girl for Sokka too!" Toph said, continuing to laugh, and making the other snicker at both of them.

Sokka grunted to himself, mocking Toph in anyway possible. "Can we please continue on?"

The Earthbender shrugged, "whatever you say Aang, I mean Sokka—oh what's the difference?"

"Hey!" they both yelled at her.

"How about a water break?" Katara asked, hoping to that would help them both calm down before they decided to fight.

The boys sighed, and agreed with her. Everyone set their packs down, and sat down for a few minutes. They passed their water jugs around, until it got to Sokka. By the time he lifted it up; only one drop of water came out onto his lips. Katara was already conjuring up more water to put in everyone's water jugs.

"Here, Sokka." Chong said handing him his water.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the water jug, and then back up at him. "No thanks, I'm good." The leader of the Nomads gave him a sad face, and then got up. _Don't say it Sokka, don't say it, don't say it…_ he thought to himself. "Wait Chong, I'll take a sip."

He smiled towards the young boy and handed him the drink. Sokka lifted it inches above his mouth, not wanting to catch any "disease" that Chong could possibly have. The drink poured into his mouth, and it was surprisingly good, but strangely a familiar taste too. He shook the feeling off and drank more of it. It was probably one of his favorite drinks as he wiped it off with his arm, and sat there for a few seconds. Instantaneously he felt his body tense up, and his mind went into neutral. Suki looked over at him, and saw his pupils get big enough to only see the rim of his blue eyes.

Katara saw it too, "Chong what did you give him?"

He scratched his head, "water…or was it juice? Hey Lily, where did we get the juice from?"

"The desert I believe. Cactus to be exact!" she said.

"Oh no." Katara mumbled to herself.

Sokka stood up; holding the juice like it was a piece of gold in his hands. His head shook out of control "drink cactus juice!" he motioned with one as if magic was going to happen. "It'll quench ya!" he yelled, and then made his body move on the ground like an earth warm. "Nothing's quenchier, it's the quenchiest!"

Katara rubbed I her temples, and took the drink away from him, "I think you've had enough of cactus juice Sokka."

Her brother then ran towards Teo, looking at him oddly. "How come Teo gets to fly?"

"Can I get some of that cactus juice?" Toph asked again, wanting to see what it would feel like.

The Waterbender shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Suddenly Sokka started to laugh, "heeeeeeeeey look, a dead guy! Do _you_ think he knows where the treasure is? We should ask him!"

"Suki, you might want to keep an eye on Sokka." Katara motioned to her, and she quickly grabbed his arm as they all kept walking after their small break.

Aang couldn't keep from smiling, and Katara noticed it too. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"It's just that I finally understand why Chong and them are the way they are. Cactus juice." He let out a small laugh, causing her to crack a big smile as she hit him on the arm.

"How did we get her in the middle of the desert?" Sokka asked Suki who only rolled her eyes at him.

They all kept on walking with Chong as they played their tunes to everyone. Thanks to Toph they were able to avoid many other traps that had spikes, rocks crushing them, arrows being shot at them, and one of them involved falling into a pit with hedgehog crocodiles. Luckily for them they had a blind girl around to guide them, until they walked into an area made completely of ice.

"No way!" Teo said with his eyes big, and told Toph what was in front of them.

Katara looked at it, not understanding how it's been able to stay solid for who knows how long down here. Yes it was cool down her, but it wasn't cool enough to keep it frozen even for a few minutes. The Waterbender looked at Aang, and he nodded letting her know that he was going to go first. The Monk took a heavy step, and the thin ice instantly cracked causing Aang to back up.

"You're going to have to refreeze it" he said.

Katara agreed, and then began to focus on her chi. She took a deep breath feeling the air cooling in her body, and finally released it out towards the ice. Not only did the solid ground freeze again but anything to the side or above it were now forced into being frozen. Aang took a hard step on it, feeling that it was sturdy enough for all of them to walk onto.

Sokka looked at it, and then at Suki. "Psst, Suki!" he whispered, "pull my finger."

Suki swatted her hand again at her fiancé, who had asked her to do it for the tenth time. "I swear Sokka if you ask me that one more time, I'm going to put you in this block of ice!" Even though he was hallucinating, he knew a good threat when he saw it from a Kyoshi Warrior.

He then leaned over to Teo without even looking at him, "psst. Teo, pull my finger!"

"Seriously dude?" the inventor asked, and then pulled Toph into his lap again and rolled out onto the ice without a hesitation, and holding onto his breaks as he slid with the Gang. Teo never thought he would need something to stop him on the ice, so it seemed like a great idea to start thinking of some new inventions right now. Usually he was so forceful with the Blind girl, but he knew he knew her pretty well for her not to ask; and besides Toph hated the ice anyways. Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Mai were behind the young Inventor; in the middle were the Nomads who were quiet, and then came Suki and Sokka.

"I can't believe we are walking on fire!" Sokka yelled a little to loud, causing everything to echo off of the walls. And then he saw something to the side that caught his eye, and he quickly ran towards it. With Momo on his shoulder, they went towards the object. It was sitting on a rock post that was about the height of his hips with, and on top of it was a purple bag with gold lacing to tie it up. Sokka, being the curious one that he is, picked it up and then opened it up. His eyes glistened inside of it.

"Guys! I found the gold, I found it I found it!" he screamed at his friends, but little did he know that the poll began to move downwards. Everybody ran back and surrounded Sokka as he opened up the bag wider for his friends. And suddenly, he felt a hit in the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You idiot" Zuko said, quickly grabbing the silk purple pouch "it's just sand! Where did you find this?"

Sokka was still rubbing his head, and pointed in the direction where he came from. "Over there on that small post." But it could not be found, and then an odd sound came into place. At first all you heard was the sound of something heavy hitting the wind, like and ax or even a sword; and the came the sound of something being cut.

Sokka grabbed Aang, "hold me close Suki!"

The Airbender pushed him off, "okay, no more cactus juice for you. Ever."

The sound of a rope snapping roared through the cave, and before Aang could even see it, a boulder that was big and heavy enough to break the ice made them fall. "Aaahhhh!" they all screamed. The Monk quickly brought a ball of fire into his hands and threw it down to the ground, so he could see what was at the end of this dark fall. The fire hit into the middle of woodened spikes that allowed absolutely no breathing room to survive in. Without a hesitations thought, Aang blew air around the spikes; making it into a dome. As everyone fell, and bounced off of the air landing into the mud except for Aang who came down gracefully onto one of the spikes and balanced himself. Momo saw the Monk and rested on his shoulder for a second until he found Sokka again.

"Let's do that again!" Moku said, happy as clam.

Sokka got up from the mud and spit it out of his mouth. And then he felt something in his chest. "Suki, I don't think this is the time or place to be doing this."

"What are you talking about?" she asked on the other side of him.

The boy's eyes got big, and then he reached down into his shirt to pull out something slimy, and reptilian like. Then the sound of a very thin tongue grazed against his neck as he pulled it out, "SNAKE!" he yelped in fear and tossed it away as he ran over to Suki and jumping up into her arms, and at first she held him and then quickly dropped them. The Kyoshi warrior hated snakes, but in her training she was taught to face her fears…she still hated them.

Aang flipped off of the spike, and he plus Zuko pulled out the fire in their hands to shine some light once again. The entire floor was covered in every kind of snake imaginable, roaches the size of your hand, fly spiders, centipedes that could were small enough to make your skin crawl just by looking at them, rhinoceros beetles, poisonous scorpions, and anything else that would lead you to your worst fears. Tons of skeletons were lying either on the ground or up against the side of the walls with more creepy crawlers spilling out of them. The Monk raised his glider up, and brought it down to blow a huge pathway between them, but the bugs just filled into the space even faster. Toph lifted up the ground a smashed hundreds of them, but more creatures poured out of the hole that she had made. Katara was too scared to even attempt her bending; all of her worst fears were right in front of her and the sound of her beating made it seem like it was attracting all of the creatures. Zuko blew fire at them and the smell of burnt bugs hit their nostrils, but again even more slimy things took their place just as quickly.

"Okay, I think we've proven enough that there are more than we can see!" Toph said, feeling that these thing were everywhere; inside the walls, below, above, and to the sides. She had thought about just breaking the floor around the slimy things, but she knew that another pool of these things were waiting for it to happen. They were fighting through small holes to get to the top.

"Why not just use that boulder behind us to crush them?" Lily asked, not really seeming afraid.

Aang rubbed his temple, "We already tried and—" he said and then stopped. It was an idea, but everyone was going to have to cooperate if they were going to get out of here. The Monk went over and picked the giant boulder that broke the ice, and then began to cut it into thick slices. Time was running out as their worst nightmares were getting higher and higher to all of their feet. Aang looked over at Katara who was holding onto one of the spikes, just as if it was the only thing that was going to save her. Mai had giant eyes as she looked at them, and stood their solid like a statue. The Airbender finally finished slicing the boulder and then tossed them into a straight walking path. He knew it was pointless to try and kill them, but with every step they could at least try and prevent it. The only problem with the way that the stones were lined up, was that they were too skinny, which meant Teo couldn't roll across. It was going to be far more difficult for people just to walk, but Aang had another idea.

"Zuko you go first, keep blowing as much fire as you can. Mai, you get onto his back, and then Chong, I need your group to follow them, Toph you come in behind, and keep using your Earthbending to keep them off of the path, then Sokka and Suki, and then Katara I need you to freeze as many of them as can! Walk along the path, no questions asked, just go, now!" he commanded towards his friends, and without a thought they all nodded and walked onto the path.

"I—I can't do this Aang!" Katara said in a shaky fearful voice, as he could see her trembling.

The Avatar grabbed her by the shoulder and looked intensely into her dark blue eyes, "Katara I need you to be brave here. Your friends need you, and I do too. Do exactly as I asked! I'll be right behind you, but don't stop. Keep going! Please Katara, there is no time!"

The Waterbender nodded quickly as she finally agreed, and began walking down the path with the others. Katara we able to freeze some of the bugs, but many of them blew fire right back at her. She took slow step, afraid to fall into them. Her mind began to play tricks on her as she could feel the creatures itching into her clothes and hair. The feared girl looked down at one of the snakes, with its beady black eyes and its tongue hissing at her, smelling her scent. She froze it, but it melted its own as ice breathing a small fire and began to follow her and their group. The Waterbender tried to think of her home land, where no such things like this would ever crawl into her bed, or even attempt it in the cold temperature of the south. Katara iced another one that jumped out at Suki, with a thud when it hit back into the creepy crawlers. Zuko was just blowing fire out like a dragon, trying to clear the pathway while Mai was on her back; he was so happy that she was very light. Toph continue to try and smash them, raising rocks high so that they couldn't jump, and punching them against the walls. Aang could hear Katara hyperventilating all of the sudden and even sobs came out of her voice. He knew that she feared snakes the most, but this was far worse than anything than anything she ever did, along with the others.

Once they were about halfway there, Aang looked at Teo. "Feel like going for a ride?"

Teo gave him a crooked smile, and pulled down his goggles. He already knew what Aang had in mind, "I feel the need!"

The Airbender nodded, "the need for speed."

He looked up and saw that they had all reached the other side where the creatures could not reach them for some odd reason. The mud was going to slow them down, but right now they had no other choice. Aang grabbed onto his wheelchair, and faced the wall closest to him. He took breathed in as much air as his lungs could take and then blew as hard as he possibly could, just like he did when Zuko's men that took him down to the ship with his hands tied behind his back. They went flying at high speed across the slimy things, hearing things squish underneath his wheels and even the sound of bones cracking too. Some even flew up into Teo's face and hit Aang in the back of his bald head. What seemed like minutes was only seconds as they finally came into higher grounds with the others. Mai was holding onto Zuko very tightly, and it seemed to only bring a smile on his face as he held onto his wife; seeing that she did after all fear something enough to show emotion. Sokka was jumping up and down trying to get some of the bugs out of his shirt, and then he dropped down to the floor and began to roll around.

The Monk let go of Teo's chair, and looked down at the wheels. All colors of liquid were on them, along with some wings, legs both small and long, and what looked like a human tooth stuck to the side. Toph ran to him, and hugged him tightly as he wrapped his arms around the worried blind girl. The Nomads didn't seem to be bothered at all, and began to sing.

"_Oh don't let the bugs in the cave get you down,_

_don't let the falling rocks turn your smile into a frown,_

_when the tunnels as dark that's when you need a clown, hey!_

_Don't let the cave or the bugs get you dooooooown!"_

Sokka then went over to them when they finished their song, "have I ever told you guys how much I love _your_ songs?"

Aang smiled, and looked around for Katara. He saw her in a corner, with her arms around her legs and her head on top of her knees. Aang bent down and put a hand on her shoulders, and then she hugged him when she felt his touch. She squeezed him into a death grip, and held onto Aang as if she would let go she would fall right back in with those things beneath them.

"It's okay Katara," he whispered through her brown hair, "you made it. Everything's fine, I promise." Her eyes were still shut as Aang began to lift her up onto her feet, still holding onto him with her arms around his neck. He kissed her cheek, "thank you for being so brave for me Katara. I knew you could do it." Finally he heard a small fake laugh in his ears, as dark skinned girl began to stop her shaking and could feel her fears melting away.

"Come on guys, we better keep on going." Aang said, not wanting to put any of them through that kind of stuff ever again. He knew that they could've climbed back up, but his gut told him that this way seemed to be better, especially if whoever made these traps thought you were dead. They all agreed and continued their walking through the dark tunnels, with each of them holding onto one another. The adrenaline rush seemed to start to start to wear off as they continued walking for another twenty minutes, and the rush of tiredness and sleep came upon all of them.

"How about another two minute break guys?" the Avatar asked, and everyone fell onto the floor; moaning all the way down.

Katara looked over at her brother, and was happy to see that some of the cactus juice was finally wearing off. "Sokka from now on, don't touch or take anything in this place!"

Her brother gave her an appalled look, "what? Who told you I took anything?" he yelled and then his eyes went straight to Momo on the ground, "it was you! You told them!" Sokka pointed at the lemur that began to cry.

"Sokka, we were _all_ there, remember?" she said, wishing the juice would wear off more quickly.

Aang looked over at Toph, "do you see anything up ahead of us?"

The Earthbender put a hand to the ground; there were more tunnels above them than anyone could ever imagine if they were alone. She kept on scanning, until her right ear twitched a little, "Actually, I think I hear a waterfall somewhere, about a hundred and three yards from us."

"Okay, well then let's head that way. If water is coming out of it, that must that it's getting its source from something and maybe we can find our way out of here." Aang said with some enthusiasm in him, and it seemed to make the Gang spark up a little bit too. Once they all had their few minutes of rest, the group got up and kept on walking straight with Toph guiding them all. Aang still wasn't up to her level yet when it can to seeing miles through the ground, he seemed to only get out about half a mile which was pretty big, but it wasn't as good as Toph's still. The walk wasn't as long as they thought it might be, and it was the exact number of steps to get to the waterfall just as the blind girl had predicted.

When they reached the waterfall; it wasn't as giant one like they were thinking it would be. It was actually smaller, but still had some height to it still. It fell into an ignoramus circle where the water was clearer than any that they had ever seen before; fishes of gold, ruby red, sky blue, and many other colors swam around not noticing their presence. But the farther you looked down, the darker the water got and that was something that they needed to avoid at all possible.

"Oooww!" Sokka said admiring the fish, "pretty!" He then tried to reach out for one of them, but when the fish saw this he showed his white razor sharpened teeth and tried to bite him. "Ah! Bad fishy, bad!"

"Sokka quit playing around." Zuko said, and all of the piranha sharks dispersed into their holes on the sides. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and heard a low growl from the water below.

"Please tell me that was Sokka's stomach." Teo remarked

"Shh!" Aang said, and put his hand to the ground with Toph, trying to find out what else could be down there.

Chong looked down at the water, "I'm sure it's just thunder, from underground."

The Monk opened his eyes, "everyone I need you to run to the sides and go through the waterfall!" No one moved as they looked at him with curiosity in their eyes, "Go, now!" he bellowed out one more time, but it was already too late.

More and more bubbles formed, until a giant red jelly fish octopus with black stripes on it emerged from the water. It had about six pairs of eyes in the front of it that were nothing but plain white terror inside of them. It had four tentacles of an octopus, but another five in the sting of a jelly fish. Most jelly fish octopus's mouth would be where the tentacle would meet, but this one was on its face and it was bigger the length of a rattle anaconda snake, with teeth that could slice through any rock.

"What, what is it?" Toph yelled, feeling everyone's hearts beat in fear

"It's a _giant_ octopus!" Sokka yelled with his arms open wide, "maybe it's friendly! Friendly octopus, mushy, jelly frieeeeeend!" he waved his hands up, down, and side to side. The creature roared loudly, causing all of them to cover up their ears and making them ring. It then began to attack them.

It went after Aang first, in which he jumped over easily as it attacked him, and then two jelly stingers went after him, but he avoided them as well as the last. "You guys go! I can hold him off!

No one argued with him, as they all ran to the sides and began to cross over; avoiding the tentacles that were sucked to the ground and walls. The creature saw them all leaving and moved its focus to them, but Aang kicked the ground and sent the sharp rocks to the red and black striped animal. It roared in anger, and then all of it's tentacle were thrown at once on Aang, making it harder for him to dodge. He did spirals, flips in the air, swatting his glider at it, sending fire at the tentacles, but all of this only made it angrier at him. The Gang was nearly three quarters of the way there, and he didn't want them to go faster but at the same time he didn't want them to fall; especially if those piranha sharks came back out for dinner. Aang sent another bolt of fire, but aimed it at it's eyes this time; however, it covered itself with its tentacles. All nine of its legs jumped right back at Aang again; he dodged sideways, but felt his entire right arm start to burn all of the sudden. The pain was sharp, like some had just pressed a metal iron to his skin and forgot to remove it.

"Argh!" Aang screamed, and rolled onto the ground with pain coursing through him and not meaning to let go of his glider. Once the beast saw his weapon fall out of his hands, it went after him again, this time catching him by his leg, feeling pull of his skin as it sucked onto him.

Katara saw this just before she entered the waterfall and jumped into the water, using her ice skills to make as a board. She built up a wave and then froze it into a ramp; she used the water from her board to make them into icicles. She flipped to avoid one jelly leg, and sent them right into its eyes. Thunder came from the creatures' voice, yelling in pain but grasped even tighter onto Aang. He could feel his leg going numb, and it was getting close to crushing his bones too. The Monk looked up above him, and saw a giant sharp rock that was directly over the octopus's mouth. He smiled, and sent another set of icicles, then fire towards the beast. Again it howled in pain and looked straight at Aang. The beast then grasped onto his left arm by using his jelly tentacles and it quickly brought him under water, still fighting each other. This was the octopus's territory, and it was winning as more and more shocks were sent through his arm. Aang continued to push water in its face, freezing its legs at times, but he was running out of air and looked to his sides. He swiftly brought the outer rocks together, smashing into its giant head and letting loose of Aang for a split second. He took advantage of it. The Airbender spun himself out of the water, and shot up towards the sharp rock that he saw before it brought him down into its own arena.

Aang grabbed onto it, and waited happy to see that everyone made it through and hid under the waterfall. He looked back down, and saw the shadow of the beast getting larger, knowing full and well that it was going to jump with all of his strength with teeth first. _"Come on, come on."_ He thought to himself concentrating on the right timing as the noise of the waterfall began to be blocked out of his hearing. Finally the shadow busted out of the cold water roaring its way to him at an unbelievable speed. Aang punched the top of the rock to split it from the ceiling, letting it fall. Everything went into slow motion as the saw the creatures' mouth, filled with drool seeping out of its spaced teeth and white eyes on him. The Airbender then pushed off the solid ceiling with all of his airbending strength; until he landed on top of the solid rock giving it another powerful burst of speed, and then jumped back up. The sharp rock went directly to its target, and it was big enough to where the creature couldn't close its mouth all of the way. It smashed back into the water with a giant splash of liquid into Aang's face. The salt in the water burned against his arms, but he quickly ignored it knowing that this was his only chance to get underneath the waterfall. The Monk swung himself to the ground where his staff was and ran to the sides of the pool at his fastest air speed.

Everyone was pressed against the walls, not really able to see what was going on through the other side of the water. There was a hole, where more water flowed down into the unknown.

Sokka looked down at it, as if it was the first time he ever saw it. "hey a water slide!" he said, and dove into it. Before anyone could catch him, he was already sliding down it.

"Sokka!" Suki yelled, and then the rocks around them began to shake as the creature emerged from the water, angrier than ever.

"Everyone, go, go, go!" Aang ordered, and one by one they all went with the beast's face getting closer to the waterfall. Katara was the last to go down, until the thing showed its eyes to him. Its tentacles went after him and Aang jumped just in time; hearing rocks crumble above him and yelling of thunder above. The ground underneath him was very slimy and slippery, moss covered up the sides of the tunnels, with creepy brown vines that hung above them.

"Wee!" Sokka said, spinning around in the water slide and Momo hanging onto his warriors' wolf tail. The Nomads put their hands up in the air, yelling out the same thing. Toph didn't like it one bit, and luckily for Teo it was big enough for his wheel chair to fit in this water slide as he use his brakes to drift in the right direction. They all went up and down, spinning in circle, and one time even jumping over a gap with more sharp rocks with skeletons at the bottom. Aang gave them all an air push and they were back on the slide once again.

The Water Tribe Warrior saw a light at the end of the water slide, and he goes through the first hole. "Agh!" he yelled as he fell.

Chong and his nomads go through another hole that was above Sokka and splashing into the water. Suki, Teo, and Mai go to the right; Zuko, Toph and Katara go out the left hole, and somehow Aang goes down to the lowest hole and skips across the water. He splashes into the salt water, with more fire shooting into his burnt arms. The Monk came up for air, coughing up the water that went into his nostrils. They had all landed into the same water luckily, which made Aang very happy that they didn't get split up.

Suki looked around and saw Sokka sitting on top of a log between his legs. "H-e-l-p m-e-…" he said in a very squeaky hurt voice, and tears in his eyes. Everyone saw the rocks to the left, and headed straight for them with Suki dragging her fiancé, while he held his hand in between his legs. Katara was helping Toph as the others were finally making it to the shore of stones. Unfortunately, Teo had fallen out of his chair. He hung on desperately to the wood that seemed to help him float as Aang grabbed of it and push him to the shore. Once he helped Teo out of the water, and got him back into his chair, the tired Monk fell onto his breath breathing hard.

Mai cough as she pulled out the brown slimy vine from her hair, "this can't get any worse."

"Who are you people?" a strange rusted voice asked them from behind.

The Gang looked back, and saw a boy that was maybe older than Sokka and Zuko. He had a baggy old brown shirt on with, with a couple of holes in it, dark pants and boots, brown eyes that seemed to show fear, a shield strapped to his back and a hand sword that was buckled on his right hip with gold embroidery in the handle. His sandy colored hair was in a half ponytail that matched his scruffy beard as and he held up a bow with three arrows in his hand that pointed towards Mai and Zuko.

"…I lied, it just got worse" she said in her same casual boring voice, not seeming to be terrified at all.

Aang stood up slowly, not wanting to alarm him but it did as the arrows pointed at him now, but he raised his hands up in surrender. "Please, don't shoot."

"Who are you stranger? I'll not ask again!" his voice a little shaky, but very deep at the same time.

"My name is Aang." he said, and then named off everyone in the group, telling them what nation they hail from but he left out Zuko being Lord of the Fire Nation in case he had a bad omen with his people.

"Why are you here? How did you even _survive_?" he questioned again, and then saw the red burn marks on Aang as well as the circles of suction on his gray pants.

The Monks hands were still raised up, while everyone remained where they were. "Chiyo sent us here. Tank."

The man blink a few times to see if they were lying. "Well why didn't you say so?" he said with a friendly smile and brought his arrows down to the ground and then grabbed them out of the bow. "Please, come, come! You have finally arrived." He guided them towards another tunnel hole that was about half their size causing them to duck, until they came to a giant room. There were shelves of scrolls, maps on wooden tables, books that seemed to be opened, some seemed to have notes sticking out of them, musical notes, historical documents, and they all seemed to be in categories too; water, earth, fire, and even air. On the walls were Viking helmets, wooden shields, axes, spikes, and two pairs of swords that crisscrossed each other above another entrance to a room.

Sokka looked up and down, trying to take it all in, "scrolls, that's it, where's the gold?" That was when everyone knew that he was somewhat back to his normal old Sokka self.

Tank laughed, "I know you are a bit disappointed to not have the treasure that you want, but I believe that you can find more things here than gold, or jewels."

"If you tell me that knowledge is priceless, I'm gonna show you what 'Sokka Style' is!" he said, recalling the same stunt he pulled on the owl in the library.

This only seemed to make Tank laugh harder, "well I guess I won't say it then. But there are things here that date back hundreds of years, and you might even learn something."

"So there is no _real_ treasure here?" Toph asked, not the least bit interest in "reading".

"I'm afraid that the only place you will find it is at the bottom of the ocean somewhere, along with my father and his Viking crew", he said sadly.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Katara said.

"It's okay; I didn't know him too well so how can you miss someone that you only saw once or twice in your life?"

Katara nodded, and changed the subject. "Are you cursed to live down here or something?"

Instantly his body became tense as he looked at them, with such a serious deadly face as if he stumbled onto a giant secret. He gazed at them and finally couldn't hold back his smile as he chuckled at them. "Ha! Oh sweet spirits you should have seen your faces!" he laughed again, "no, it's just another rumor from Chiyo and her Mermaids. They can be a bit dramatic."

Sokka spoke with much flare and disappointment in his voice, "so…we went through all of that, just to find out that you like to read?"

He gave her a devilish smile, "I guess you can say that not all Vikings are as cruel as some would say. While my father loved gold and treasure, I loved to read. I was a great thief; even Pirates couldn't be as sneaky as I was. I went into rich homes, temples, noble families kingdoms, and stole anything I could get my hands on; I especially stole library books."

Katara looked at him and could see he was telling the truth. Her eyes then dotted over towards the Waterbending side where stacks upon stack of shelves were covered in paper and books. "You wouldn't happen to have stolen any waterbending scrolls, would you?"

"Ha! What kind of Viking thief would I be if I didn't! They are over there to my right, if you can find them." He protested while pointing his finger over there, allowing Katara to look at them. His eyes then darted over to Zuko, "how about you? Want to know anything about the Fire Nation?"

Zuko shook his head, "I know enough about my ancestors to never want to read about their work…" and then another idea came into his mind, "do you have any records of missing people, or perhaps of any that left in the last eleven or twelve years?"

Tank rubbed his beard, "can't tell you, but it's a slim chance that you might find anything on record; however, you are more than welcome to look over there." He nodded to his left, where some Fire Nation papers were scattered onto an old wooden table.

Teo rolled up next, "got anything on inventions?"

The brown eyed boy spit, "a few. They are some near the Fire Nation, help yourself." Teo grabbed hold of Toph's hand and together they went where Zuko and Mai were, looking over record books of those who came into his country, and who left as well.

Suddenly, Chong was in the young man's face. "Do I know you?"

Tank took a step back, "I highly doubt that. Umm, Aang right?"

"Yeah."

"Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked pleadingly, so he can stay away from Chong. Most of the time Aang would normally never ask, because no one ever had his history with the Airbender's; it was too rare of a thing.

"Unless you were able to fly up to the Southern Temple and steal some Airbending scrolls, then no thank you."

Tank thought about it for a while, "I don't really have anything on Airbender's. They are very hard to come by these days, especially if you can somehow find a way up there. But in my recent reading, I believe the Fire Nation had an Airbender on their side about a hundred eighty or a hundred and ninety years ago."

The Monks eyes widened, "what are you talking about? There was no Airbender with the Fire Nation, that's impossible!"

"Follow me, I think you should read this" He motioned Aang farther to the back of his library where the swords hung above it as he entered into it. Tank motioned Aang to sit at one small table, while the young Viking looked for it. Tank scanned the records of other documents; most likely they were ones that truly interested him in his studies. There weren't as many in here as there was where the Gang was, but it seemed like a perfect place to do your own studying. The young man reminded him of Professor from Ba Sing Se; he wondered if he would have liked this small library filled with stolen records and history. Tank kept on scanning, searching for the right scroll until at long last he had found it. He handed it to Aang very delicately, and then left him to his own reading while he helped entertain the others.

Aang looked down at the rolled up scroll, with its colors fading and some of it had even been burnt on the sides. It smelt of leather almost, and the feel of oil slightly. He took a deep breath and unrolled the scroll very carefully onto the table that creaked if you stressed too much weight onto it. The scroll was much smaller than he anticipated, due to the fact that the bottom of it was completely burned off, but there seemed to be some form of information. It read:

_The fifth year of the War, during the reign of Fire Lord Sozin._

_Today will be the day I execute a true traitor of this world, and it will indeed be a pleasure to kill another Airbender that has never belonged in the world of the Fire Nation. I was surprised at how quickly he came to us, so eager to give up his brothers and sisters for revenge. I will never forget the day he came to me, the day that we finally found a way to bring down the Southern Air Temple where the Avatar was. He told me how to get up there, through a secret passage that only elderly Airbender's knew about. The man told me that even though they are a peaceful clan, they would fight; he was indeed right. They fought back but their airbending only made our fire grow stronger. It was far too easy; even though I lost hundreds of my men it was a small sacrifice to pay in order to seal the death of the new Avatar. Unfortunately, we were not able to find the boy. _Aang_ is what they called him, and he is out there somewhere. I can feel him near whenever I search in the Southern Waters, and it disgusts me as I feel him laughing in my face as I search for him. _

_Afiko helped me find many other hiding places with the Airbender's. He even killed his own people in order to prove that he would not betray me. When I asked him why he was willing to give them all up so easily, he told me "I deserved to be the Avatar. I was one of the oldest, but still the best Airbender alive. That is until Aang came, and he took that away from me." I admired his the way he talked of hatred towards his people, and I let him join me. After killing off the last of the Airbenders', Afiko became my advisor; hunting down anyone who would defy me. He was a very handy asset, but his time had at long last come to an end. If he was willing to betray his own people, then there was even a high risk of him being a traitor to me. Afiko had done his duty, and now his life had run its course. I had no further use of him, and he could not help me in finding the Avatar. But if there is one thing that he did for me, it's that he found an ancient group that will someday be far more powerful than anyone could predict. They may be small now, but even in the years to come they could become an army for my son Azulon and perhaps one day his own sons would someday use, for they have sworn loyalty to me and the next generation of Fire Lords. I hate to see Afiko go, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to achieve victory in this wor…_

The last word was burned off, but Aang knew what he was going to say. He was too stunned to believe the words he just read by Sozin, it seemed too far fetched. Afiko…one of the oldest elders became their enemy over jealousy of him and in the end he took everything he loved away from him. Aang felt tears slip through his eyes as the history of how his people were not only killed by Sozin, but an Airbender that he knew. It made sense now as to why Afiko seemed to hate him so much, and then one day he just disappeared. Aang felt his stomach twisting in hatred, anger rising up in him, and the sound of Ozai laughing in his ears. Aang put his hands into a fist, accidentally surrounding his hand in fire. He underestimated of his own strength as he punched down on the table, breaking it easily and cracking the floor; the scroll began to burn very quickly while he sat there watching the betrayers name turn to ash. He felt another sharp pain in his knuckles and felt warm liquid dripping down his fingers, forgetting that some of the rocks were sharp enough to cut him if he wasn't trying to earthbend. He clenched his teeth, and sucked the air back into his mouth trying not to scream out in rage. However, the noise was loud enough that everyone came and found him hunched over the evidence of his pain. Aang slowly rose from the ground, not caring if anyone saw how angry he was or that his eyes were red from rubbing them. He walked past all of them, not looking at any of his friends until he came to Tank.

"I'm sorry." he said with such poisonous venom in his voice, it sent a cold shiver down Katara's spine. Aang walked out to the rocks of where they came ashore, and put his knuckles into the salty water. It burned like fire on his opened flesh in which Aang welcomed the pain, hoping it would keep his mind off of Ozai as he was clawing away at his inside; trying to break his spirit. He closed his eyes, and used his stomach routine that Guru Pathik taught him; hoping that his chi would somehow help him in this matter, but it didn't. His anger was rising; the heat of his body was so intensified that he could feel his body sweating. Aang's mouth began to go dry as he replayed the traitor in his mind, and how much he would have loved to look into his eyes before Sozin executed him. And then for some odd reason everything began to melt away just like ice would in the sand. His outrage began to flow out like a waterfall, and peace was starting to come back into his heart.

Aang looked to his left and saw Katara with her cool hand on his shoulder, and then sat next to him. She knew that she should say something, but for once she just needed to be there for him. Tank told her that an Airbender had betrayed Aang, and he helped Fire Lord Sozin kill them all as well as other Earthbenders. The blue eyed girl looked picked up his right hand, and examined it carefully; happy to see that he didn't shatter any of his bones. The Monk hadn't looked her in the eye once since she sat next to him, and it scared her a little bit. She then dipped his hand back into the salt water, causing his stomach and jaw to flex in pain. Her hands became blue as she healed his hands to the point where it was just a scab now. It was better to let the body do its own healing, because it would depend too much on her own abilities if she fixed him up all of the way. She then went over to his burnt arm where the Jelly fish octopus had gotten him, and healed the marks on him so that they would not show over his tattoos that ran down his arm. Once she was done with healing the suctions on his legs she left him, wishing that there was something she could do. Katara hated feeling so helpless, but what could anyone say to make this better.

After another few hours of pouring over old scrolls, looking for anything to do with the _Death Stalkers_, more of Sozin's documents, and even helping Zuko in finding the whereabouts of his mother; it all proved to be unsuccessful to them. Aang stood at the door with his arms crossed, as he waited patiently for them. Once there was nothing more that they could do, Tank told them to take the elevator that he built and that it would lead them to the ground above them. Everyone thanked Tank for his hospitality, and left towards his exit that he made. Aang still stood at the door when everyone left, leaving him and the Viking alone.

"…I'm sorry that I burned your scroll, I know it was something that you valued." Aang said with sincere and sadness in his voice.

Tank shook his head, "I should have never shown it to you in the first place, I thought you knew."

The Airbender looked down at his feet, and then back at the handsome face. He was a few inches shorter than he was, but if it wasn't for the fact that he was the Avatar, Tank could probably take him down. "_Ye shall find whatever he wishes if he so seeks it_." Aang said quoting what the map said, "sometimes you don't know what you are looking for, until someone else shows it to you." He gave him a small smile, "thank you Tank, and I am truly sorry"

Tank acknowledged him, and shook arms before they departed. "Oh and Aang!" he yelled at him, and brought something out of his pocket. It was wrapped in a black cloth as he handed it to him. "I was going to sell this, but I believe that you will hold more value to it than anyone ever would." He said with a grin, and then went back to his small library. Aang looked at it for a second and then put it in his pocket not really wanting to know what lies underneath it. He looked up and saw that the Gang was already close to the top, with only minutes to spare. Tank had used the idea of a catapult as a rock from the top dropped and sent his friends to the very top; Teo took notice of his mechanism. The Airbender opened up his glider, and flew up to them until they opened a door that lead out of a tree what was so big, if they held hands and pressed against it, it would still be too big. Aang was the last to come out of the edge of the giant oak tree, and shut the door behind them. The moss was able to camouflage the exit so well, that Aang wasn't for sure if they came out of this tree. Luckily for them, they were at the edge of the forest, which made the group sigh in relief at having some good fortune for them.

The Monk pulled out his bison whistle, and blew into it; calling for Appa to come and find them at long last. Momo jumped off of Teo's lap and flew into the air, looking for his giant friend. They walked out of the tall forest trees until they were out into the open with the sun getting lower to the ground. There were tons of green on the ground, with flowers of blue and white tips blowing up against the small breeze.

"Well that was a complete waste of a day." Sokka said a little too loud, and felt a hit on his left arm. "Okay, no more hitting Sokka today, sheesh!"

Katara grinned at Suki, and then looked over at Aang who wasn't even paying attention to anything. The Gang stopped, and laid down in the grass; happy to be back on dry land and feel the sun radiating on their skin, but no one was more happier than Toph. The Airbender did not join them as Chong began to play another tune, and making him to only get away from the happiness that surrounded them, but before he could walk off Katara caught his hand. He turned around to see her concern in her eyes, as she placed her hands on the sides of his face. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, feeling peace and love come back into him once again.

"…I'm so sorry Aang. I don't understand what you must be feeling, and I don't know what to say to make you feel any better." She said, wondering what it would have been like if someone she knew betrayed her tribe, and in the end causing the death of her own Mother. The Monk began to tear up again and tried to swallow his sob back down. "Aang. I know this is going to sound bad, but—I'm glad you ran away when you did."

That got his attention very fast, as she continued. "I know it sounds selfish and horrible for me to say that, but it's the truth. Meeting you, after my Mom died, you became the most important person in my life. I don't know where I would be without you, and you call me a _horrible_ person for thinking that, but I need you to remember that you have a family now. A family that was brought together by you, and who loves you very much." she said in a whisper now, with a few tears that ran down his face.

Aang felt his lips quivering as he took Katara for her word, and then pulled her into his chest and hugging her tightly. "No." he sniffled with his cheek on her head, "that doesn't make you a horrible person Katara, it only makes you human." He said with a weak voice, and then looked down at her. Aang raised her chin up to him as he lightly kissed her, like a feather rubbing up against your skin. Abruptly, they all felt a shook as Appa landed onto the ground hard; roaring in joy to see all of his friends once again. Aang and Katara walked back to the giant Bison, and the Airbender hugged his friend tightly; happy to see another piece of his home in front of him along with Momo sitting on Jet's head eating Leachy nuts. He was still tied up just the way they had left him, and he looked very uncomfortable. The day was getting late, and they all knew that there was no point in flying off tonight. The boys helped unpack everything, while the girls helped set up the tents. Aang removed the saddle from Appa, and left Jet in his ropes.

Chong and his group were ready to be on their way, with Aang still petting Appa and talking to his old friend. "No one react to what I am about to tell you." He whispered to the entire Gang, "I think that kid might be the Avatar." Chong pointed back with his thumb towards Aang.

Sokka hit his forehead and making everyone to laugh as they saw a red hand forming on him. Aang then walked over and Moku and Lily, "so are you guys going to stay with us tonight?"

"Nope!" Moku said with a smile on his face.

Aang cracked a grinned, "okay, thanks for everything Moku." He said waving back at them as they started to walk off.

Chong looked over at his Nomads and then back at Sokka. He grabbed both of his shoulders and said, "Sokka, I hope you learned something about not letting a maps plan get in the way of the journey."

Chong pulled him in for a brotherly hug, causing Sokka to blush. "Just play your song", he said through his teeth.

He let go of him, "hey, hey, good plan!" And the Nomads sang their way as they walked through the green grass, until the Gang could hear them no more. The group built up a fire, allowing them to warm up in the cool air. Katara cooked up some plain rice to make things simple for everyone, while Zuko handed everyone some tea that Iroh taught him to make. Everyone was laughing, telling about the how they should have never survived in those death traps, and Toph bragged about how if they didn't have her then they all would be dead right now. Aang didn't join in on the laughter, nor did he eat or drink anything that was in front of him. His appetite had disappeared, and he only seemed to be thinking about Afiko once again. Katara was sitting next to him, and noticed that he hadn't touched anything that was given to him. Occasionally he would catch her looking at him and he gave her a couple of fake smiles which only seemed to make things worse for her.

"Hey Katara," Sokka said, "how about you sing us a song?"

His sister raised an eyebrow at him, "haven't you had enough singing for one day Sokka?"

He chuckled, "from the Nomads, _absolutely_, but I was wondering if you could sing Mom's song. I think it's something we could all use." He suggested, seeing how awful Aang looked, "come on, you know which one I'm talking about!"

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Just do it!"

Katara rolled her eyes and moaned at him. She then sat up tall, and took a deep breath as she looked into the dancing flames, remembering her Mother singing this to them when the days were growing darker. The Waterbender began to chant:

_Land of bear and land of eagle  
Land that gave us birth and blessing  
Land that called us ever homewards  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains_

Land of freedom land of heroes  
Land that gave us hope and memories  
Hear our singing hear our longing  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains

Aang could not believe how amazing she could sing while he wondered how many angels were sitting on those bright stars above them and listening to a voice that would put make them all in shame. Katara's singing seemed to soothe his hatred for Afiko, and he felt himself closing his eyes as he listened. And then his scabbed up hand traveled to the pocket where a black pouch remained. He pulled it out, feeling the the fabric of the cloth and began to unwrap it finally. Aang couldn't see what was inside due to the shadow that the fire made, and then he reached into it, he felt the smoothness of large wooden beads that were connected to a giant wooden circle. The Monk pulled out the necklace, and felt himself truly smiling from the last couple of hours. The necklace was that of an Airbneder. It had the symbol of his people on it that was carefully hand cut, with three silk red tassels connected to the bottom half of 's voice continued to make his smile grow wider as he closed his eyes once again and really listened to her words.

Land of sun and land of moonlight  
Land that gave us joy and sorrow  
Land that gave us love and laughter  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains

When the land is there before us  
We have gone home across the mountains  
We will go home, we will go home  
We will go home across the mountains

Once she was finished she sloutched back, and put her head down. Katara grinned to herself, surprised that she remembered that song from her Mother that was so many years ago. Her Mom said that she once heard it from a traveler that stayed in their village for a day, and Kya heard her singing it while gazing at a fire. Her Mom told her that she wished to learn the song, but instead of the traveler teaching her how to sing it she wrote it down for her and the next morning she was gone. Every night before Sokka and her went to bed, their mother would sing them that lullaby reminding them that home is not always where you live, but it can be found in more than one place.

For the first time in a while, the Gangs thoughts did not wonder off to the war that was brewing, the fact that they almost got killed for treasure hunting, or how much they missed their loved ones; instead it made them all realize how truly blessed they were to have each other. None of them would ever admit that out loud, but they were all thinking it. Jet sat amazed at the song that she sang, and a small but brief memory of his father spinning him in the air, and his mother rocking him back and forth when he had nighmares; a small tear fell onto his cheek and down the metal plate upon his face.

Katara leaned back against the block of wood behind her, and then she felt Aang's warm arms around her as he scooted closer to her and kissed her on the cheek. The group kept silent with those words ringing beautifully in their ears; even Toph wasn't willing to break the sense of peace that was blanketed over all of them. No one wanted to get up as the fire around them began to die down, and their eyes started to drift. Instead of going to their tents like they normally would, the night was warm and the grass was soft enough that they slept underneath the stars. Katara and Aang faced each other while looking at each other through different eyes that night.

The Monk moved a strand of hair behind her left ear, and then stroked his thumb gently on her soft cheeks. Aang desperately wanted her to sing the song again, but still did not want to break the silence between them. Katara smiled at him as if she was reading his mind and began to hum the melody to him. He felt his eyes getting heavier as she was half way through the song, and finally he fell into a slumber with Katara's voice swirling in his dreams and of his memory that went back to the days when Monk Gyatso was teaching him how to aim, by using his ancient cake's as practice on the his elderly peers. Aang tightened the grip of the airbending necklace that Tank gave him, and Katara saw another smile form on his face; it was the smile of that twelve year old boy that she found in that block of ice once upon a time.

**Okay, well first off I stole a lot of quotes and things in this chapter. Stole a quote from Lord of the Rings, the theme to Gilligans Island (I suck with making songs up), and at the end when Katara sings that too was from King Arthur "We Will Go Home", as well as _MANY _from The Cave of Two Lovers. I know I said I don't like to steal other peoples ideas, but at least I am pretty honest about it when I do lol. The reason I wanted Katara to sing that song was just because I liked it, and seemed like something Aang needed to hear. And just to let everyone know, Afiko is a real person. I did not make the name up, and he is the one who betrayed the Airbenders.**

**So just to let everyone know, in the last chapter where Katara get that green dress from Haru's home; well that is the same dress from the last episode of A:TLA, as well as the airbending necklace that Tank gave to Aang. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it enough to comment me on this chapter. This was 34 pages long, so good job to all of you who read it! Okay, well you guys know what to do now. Please comment/review me. I value ALL opinions! **

**Peace and Love Avatards**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi EVERYONE! Long time no talk! I know it has been like three months since my last update and i do apologize to you guys. I lost my job and went into a depression mode which is mostly why I had stopped writing :/ BUT now I have another so all is good now. I told you all that I would keep my promise in continuing to write and finish my story and I intend to keep my word. So, in honor of all of you guys supporting me for a long while now, this chapter is _TWO _chapters in one. You will be reading about 69 pages worth today! I figured that you guys might deserve it after waiting for so long and being patient with me. I will continue onward, just give me time and I'll try not to disappoint you guys again. This chapter has a TON of drama in it, so be prepared for that! As well as romance, little goofy parts, and some action for you boys out there!**

**I don't own anything of ATLA, and I apologize ahead of time for any repeated words, spelling, and/or grammar. (Recap) Aang just found out that and an Airbender name Afiko betrayed his people and had helped in the war during his 100 years of disappearance. Enjoy the LONG chapter that took me forever to do! Take BREAKS People!**

These last days for Aang felt like they were growing darker for him since he found out about the betrayal of his own clan. He hadn't talked to Katara much either, even though he knew that she was worried about him and he hated it when he would leave her side while she slept. The Airbender was back to his normal routine of only getting a few hours of sleep, while his nightmares haunted him. They were of the days when the Southern Air Temple was burning; he could hear them all screaming in pain, wind being blown everywhere, and the sound of crackling fire that would help the flames grow. Through the inferno he could see Afiko standing next to Sozin, and he saw no shame or regret in his eyes as he watched them being burned alive.

Every time Aang woke up from those dreams, he could feel his skin burning from all of the places that Ozai put on him. There was even a time when he had to hold in his own scream from the pain, because he didn't want to wake up Katara. Luckily for him, she had been detained with Jet's mind for the past few days. Aang didn't like the fact that she was even touching him, but he knew it was the right idea; especially if it could help bring back his memory. The Airbender would sit and watch, ready to make move if Jet ever tried to do something. And the only thing that he ever did was close his eyes and smile underneath that metal plate of his, and he would hear the occasional "mmm" sound. It got so annoying to both of them that Katara finally smacked him in the head and it made Aang smile at her attitude towards him. The Avatar was happy that he had learned to control his anger a little bit better, but sometimes he wished he could just let it all out. According to the Waterbender, it was going to definitely take some time to help with the Traitors memory; however she was pretty confident that she could accomplish it.

Aang inhaled the warm air above the clouds, loving the feeling of the sun giving him a small tan on his light skin. He loved it up here; nothing, but free air and plenty of space to roam free around. The Gang and Jet had been traveling to Aunt Wu's village for some time now, and according to Sokka they should be there in the next few hours. He had fought with them for days against going to see the Fortuneteller and as always he failed miserably. It seemed that even Suki couldn't keep her man happy nor persuade him into doing this, until she finally threatened him. Aang didn't know what the threat was, but the girls always seemed to giggle about it when she gave Sokka a look and he would shut up. Something he wished they could have used against him during their travels back in the days. The Airbender was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't even realized that a certain girl was sitting next to him with a worried look. He glanced her way and gave her a gentle crooked smile that didn't reach up to his eyes like she always loved.

"You seem to be pretty preoccupied these last few days," Katara mentioned.

Aang nodded "I know," was all he could manage to say to her.

The Waterbender didn't like the way his voice sounded, or the way the purple underneath his eyes were getting darker again. "You know Aang, I haven't asked you about this situation because I was kind of hoping you would come and talk to me eventually. However, it seems like I am never going to know unless I ask you."

"I really don't want to talk about this right now Katara, it's the past and that is all that you need to know." He said with venom in his voice of denial, and saw the reaction on her face and quickly regretting his answer. The dark skinned looked down at her hands, seeing that he still wasn't ready to truly talk about it. She wanted to help him and try to fix things. Sokka told her it was one of the most annoying things about her; it was a gift and a curse sometimes.

"Okay Aang. But you can always talk to me, you know that?"

He sighed, "yes, I do. Thank you for reminding me."

And just like that he went back into his own world while staring out to the clouds. Even though Katara knew he wanted her to leave, she also understood that he still wanted her there by his side. They both knew how to read each others moods and thoughts, it was one of the many things the Spirits blessed them with in their relationships. She scooted next to him, and placed her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes of silence he finally put his cheek onto her head, smelling the rain and flower in her hair. He was so lucky to have someone like Katara in his life; she knew how to read him even when he tried to hide it without success and for that he was grateful during his hard trials.

Suki had been watching those two for quite some time as she leaned against Sokka's chest while his arms wrapped around her lower waist. "Do you think he will ever ask her to marry him?" she questioned, and catching her fiancé off guard on the question.

He smiled to himself and lied to her, "I honestly don't know. I know that they love each other, but I still think Aang is too young to be asking my sister that kind of a question."

"But Katara is of age Sokka and I know that he is two years younger than her, but I would have figured by now that he would have popped the question." She confessed, wishing that she could be talking to her new Sister-in-law about this.

The young boy sighed, "Suki we both know that they will marry. It's just a matter of time before he does ask, but for now let them enjoy their time as a couple. I think that was the one thing Katara missed the most about him during his disappearance."

Suki grinned at the young couple on Appa's head, "you're right. I guess I want them to be just as happy as we are. That's all."

Sokka kissed the top of his girls auburn hair, and whispered into it. "You're such a romantic, and that's what I love about you the most. You know exactly that we are going to be happy in our lives and that no one can tell us what is going to happen in the future when we marry."

"…I'm still going to ask Aunt Wu about our future," she said, knowing that he was trying to lead her from doing that.

"Oh come on! She's a total fake! People take her _way_ to seriously when there is no scientific evidence of anything ever happening!" he said annoyed, recalling the man who never took a bath, or the guy who would meet his true love while wearing red shoes.

Suki giggled, "sorry, but I am very curious about this woman."

Sokka grunted in annoyance wishing that they could go anywhere else but to the Fortuneteller; he would rather go behind enemy lines, dressed as a Kyoshi Warrior than to have to deal with this abuse.

Zuko smiled a little at Sokka and Suki, happy that he didn't have a wife that wanted to know what her future holds. Or at least he believed she didn't, because of just who she is in general.

Mai read his mind, "if even think about taking me to this Fortuneteller, I swear you will be sleeping alone for the rest of your life with one eye opened." She said in a bored tone, but still threatening him.

The Fire Lord's smile only widened, "whatever you say your Highness." And then his eyes drifted to Jet, who was tied up once again by the hands of Suki. He had strangely been quieter for these last few days. Maybe it was due to the fact that Katara was helping heal his mind. There had been so many occasions when the Waterbender asked Aang to leave while Zuko took watch over her. Katara had become like a sister to him in the past year, as they would write back and forth each other; they would talk about their lives, what it was like to be married, the responsibilities they both had as a Fire Lord and a Master, sometimes they would even have a conversation about their Mothers which was very rare since it was such a sore subject. He had learned not to talk about Aang in the letters as well, because one time a letter came back to him and the words were all smeared from the tears that dripped on it, and it only made him feel like a complete incompetent fool for attempting to ask her. Since then, he never asked her about the certain Airbender again, even though he knew that she wanted to talk about it. She just wasn't ready yet.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang finally brought Appa down onto the ground, just a mile away from the village. He figured that everyone was pretty sore and could use some stretching and walking before they entered. Once they landed, a man with white spiked hair and dressed in black took a step from behind a tree's shadow just as they landed. The three of them recognized him as Aunt Wu's friend; a very calm man who didn't talk too much, but was kind to them none the less. In his hand he had a pair of shackles, and a sword that he never saw him wearing the last time he came. The bald Monk airbended off of the Bison, feeling the numbness on his butt and started to rub it so that he could get some blood flowing; Sokka followed the same motive.

The young man bowed to them, "Aunt Wu said that I would meet some old acquaintances today, and that you might need my assistance." He said very quietly that you almost couldn't hear him as his eyes drifted towards Jet.

Aang looked up to Jet and then back to the man in black. The Airbender nodded, and then hopped back up on Appa to untie the ropes from him. They both didn't take their piercing eyes off of each other as the ropes began to loosen, even in their silence they said more than anyone could believe. Once Jet stood up, he became his normal self very quickly.

"So tell me, how does it feel knowing that your own race betrayed you and the whole world?' Jet asked mockingly with a smirk behind that metal on his. Aang looked down at him feeling the heat rising off of his skin, "such a pity that an Airbender helped influence this war. Can we be expecting the same from you, Aang?"

The angry tattooed boy gave him the most evil look that he didn't know he could conjure up, "if I do, you will be the first to go."

"Is that a challenge?"

Aang got right up in his face, happy to know that he was barely taller than him. "It's not much of a challenge when you can easily take down someone like you."

Jet shook his head, "I thought Airbenders weren't supposed to be arrogant, but humble?" he said sarcastically.

"I always make an exception for _traitors_" he said with a whisper, trying to control himself as much as possible. With Jet though it seemed like a lost cause.

"Would you have made that same exception to your own Airbending traitor?" he retorted back, enjoying the view of being able to annoy him so easily.

Aang made a fist on both his sides and without hesitations or thought he airbended him off of Appa's saddle; making him skid on the ground thirty feet like he was a smooth stone being tossed on the water. The Monk jumped up, and landed next to him while he listened to Jet trying to breath in. He then placed his hand on his chest and pushed down on him, allowing him to catch a breath and coughing.

"Don't make me regret bringing you out of that dark hole that you were in Jet, because I _promise_ that if you don't help us you will be in there the rest of your life. And I will personally see that you stay there until you rot in those chains for your remaining years."

His voice would make anyone's spine shiver in fear at what he just said; Aang was changing too quickly and he knew it, but how do you stop something that is going to take over your body someday. The Monk walked away before the older boy had enough air to say something back and he would later regret his actions. The older gentlemen cuffed his wrists while Aang enjoyed the sound of the metal clocking. When he looked back, everyone was starring at him knowing that Toph had listened in on his conversation and no ones face was more frightened than Katara's. He sighed and walked past them, with his Bison and him taking the lead. His Spirit guide sensed the fouls of his mood and tried to make him feel better by licking him on the back. Aang turned around to the big fur ball in behind him and looked into those dark eyes under the white hair. He finally surrendered and hugged his friend happy to know that he wasn't judging him like all of the others were now. The bald Monk knew better than to let Jet get into his head, but it always seemed so impossible for him not to do anything to him; he actually considered Jet a lucky guy for his reaction, because Aang would have rather beaten him until he bled.

The walk wasn't long at all as Makapu Village came into their view, or at least the giant lava wall that Aang once cooled years ago; it still stood tall and strong for the small hidden village. The Airbender smiled at his masterpiece, recalling when he did it. He had never conjured up so much air before in his life and didn't even know he had the capacity to do it. Monk Gyatso had told him that he was more powerful than he knew; and that was before they told him that he was the Avatar. Again memories of his childhood and long lost friends came into vision; the yells and screaming of them as they tried to call out to him. His body went cold as if the Angel of Death just barely grazed his shoulder and feeling the true agonizing screams of the Airbenders and not allowing them to cease. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders causing him to jump a little.

He hadn't even realized that he had stopped walking and that everyone else was in front of him except Katara who had that worried look on her face. "It's your dreams again, isn't it?" she questioned him, seeing the same stress and sadness on his face from earlier on in the day.

He rubbed the top of nasal bone and tried to wipe away his fears, "a little bit, but I'm fine…we'd better catch up."

The Waterbender stopped him again, "there's nothing wrong with you being angry or broken hearted about your people Aang, but you need to express it in a different way then beating up on Jet—even though we all want to right now." She added, hoping to put a smile on his face which proved little success.

The tattooed boy looked away ashamed of his actions earlier on today, and had cooled off a lot after walking. He put his hands on his lips, "I know it was a stupid move to do Katara. It's becoming harder and harder for me to control myself." Aang finally admitted to the beautiful saint.

Her lips curled into a small smile as she went over and hugged him, feeling his arms wrap around her too. There was only so much she could do for him, especially if he would only let her in every so often.

The Avatar loved her in his arms, and the anger seemed to melt off of him like frozen water in the sand. And then he asked something without thinking "is this how you felt when you found out that Yon Rha killed your Mother?"

Katara's eyes opened wide and quickly letting go of him. It wasn't like him to ask questions about her Mom like that, especially since she never wanted to talk about her in that depth. It was still a rough issue to her, and it definitely wasn't the right time to talk about it.

She changed the subject, "you're right we'd better go catch up with the others." And just like that she walked past him, wiping a small glisten of water from her eyes as she remembered the day that Zuko helped her find her killer. How she had him in the palm of her hands, begging for mercy and yet she still wanted to kill him. Aang felt awful for asking that question so bluntly, it wasn't his business and he knew that it was a very idiotic move on his end. At the same time he wanted to know; however, she too would want the same from him. He was keeping things from her just as she was too and he would be a hypocrite if he tried to ask something personal when he didn't let her in on what he was experiencing or will in the future.

The view of people walking in the small village buying food, clothing, arguing about debts, children playing in the streets and laughing; it almost seemed like they didn't know that a war was going on. It was actually a good trance of atmospheres, and Aang was pretty sure that the Cloud Reader was somehow responsible for that. The Monk then told Appa to fly off on his own for a while, and that he would call him back when he needed him. The Bison understood and then flew off towards the south somewhere while Momo remained on his shoulders, eating a bug he just captured in the air. The young boy looked over at Katara as they locked eyes, and then she gave him a comforting smile that she was okay with what happened a few minutes ago. The village people didn't seem to acknowledge their presence, which was a relief to the young Avatar. Every time he and his friends went somewhere they were always mobbed with help, which wasn't a bad thing, but sometimes you just need a place to get away from everything.

Teo looked around and smiled, "certainly is a little bit different, isn't it Toph?"

The blind girl smiled, "very much so. Didn't think that I'd see _happy town_ again."

Zuko agreed, "it is very strange. Most people would be in their home with any kind of weapon that they could wield, and yet they all seem…blissful?"

"Too happy in my personal opinion" Mai mumbled out quietly. Sokka acceded with it too, and had a pretty good hunch as to why the people were acting in this manner.

"Maybe Aunt Wu has been protecting them through her predictions?" Suki said, impressed by the way the people were too and making her feel a little bit happier too.

"Don't say that Suki! Remember that this woman is a phony, and we are _not_ to believe anything she says!"

Katara rolled her eyes, "are you still mad about the fortune she gave you, Sokka?"

"No!" he yelled, "my life is nothing like the way she predicted." Sokka said and kicked a small pebble in the air, and _ironically_ it ricochets off of a sign and hit him in the head causing him to fall to the ground. He raises a finger up to the sky, "that still doesn't prove anything!" The Gang laughed at him, knowing very well that Aunt Wu made the right omen in his future life. Suki helped her Fiancé from the ground as they all walked to the home of Aunt Wu. Her assistant made a right turn as he left them there at the door.

"Where are you taking him?" Katara questioned his motives, afraid he might escape.

The white haired man quietly said, "he will be staying in my room as you take rest here."

"Don't worry sweetums," Jet said "when you're ready to be with a _real_ man come and see me." He winked at her and got one last glimpse of Aang's furious face before they rounded the corner and out of sight.

The doors then opened in front of the group, and were all very surprised at who slid it open. Before them stood a very elegant young lady that was maybe twelve or thirteen, brown hair that was straight and long, but not as long as Katara's. She was about Toph's height, gray eyes, and a very sweet smile. Aang recognized her instantly as Meng, the girl who was his first stalker in denying his feelings toward. He was very happy to see that she had grown up a lot and that her hair seemed to be tamed more than last time, and she perhaps seemed a little more confident in herself than the shy little girl he remembered.

She caught Aang's eyes and she grinned at him, "please come on in. Aunt Wu said we were supposed to be expecting visitors' today. We have already prepared the rooms if you would like to rest before dinner?"

"Yyeeeesss! Sleeping in a comfortable bed!" Sokka said with most enthusiasm, feeling the dreariness creeping up on him.

Meng bowed and asked them to follow her to show them where they will be staying. The Gang took off their shoes before they entered the beautiful home and followed her as she led them to the left of where Aunt Wu once predicted their future. Momo jumped off of his shoulder, ready to explore the same land again. The place hadn't changed at all; even the cushions of where they sat last time were in the exact same spot. Suki and Sokka took the first room, or at the least the Young Warrior did as he plopped himself on the cushioned floor bed and was knocked out cold. Zuko and Mai took their, quickly moving their slide over, then Toph and Teo who seemed to have sparkles in their eyes, and last but not least Aang and Katara took their area.

"If any of you guys need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know. Aunt Wu will be having dinner with you shortly in the next hour." She bowed to them, and gave the Monk another quick smile before she turned and left. She didn't have those same feelings anymore towards the young Airbender since she found a boy with even bigger ears, but it was still good to see him once again. There was still a small crush, but nothing like it was before.

The room was very nice indeed; smooth woodened floors with one large Raku tatami platform bed in the middle of the farthest wall that had one giant white pillow that stretched from both sides of the bed. In the middle of it was a small carved maroon tray that had a black teapot on and two cups that were black with white writing. A shoji screen to their left so that could undress privately, calligraphy prints and Zen symbols hung all over the room, a tall rose wood lamp with thai paper infused with red tamarind leaves with a small flame showing through it; the lamp itself made the room romantic in a way. To the right of the bed was a brown furnished table, no taller than the bed, with two bonsai's that looked very healthy.

They both stepped in on the cool wood, as Katara set her things down and Aang moved the sliding door over for some privacy. She began to unpack her things knowing that certain eyes were watching her every move. She looked at him in which he didn't try to turn away from her.

He looked down at the floor trying to find the right words, and then looked down at her. The Airbender crossed his arms, "I'm sorry about today…"

Katara smiled and set her things on the bed and walked towards him. "It's okay; I know you didn't mean to talk about my Mom."

Aang nodded, "it's not just that, but the way I behaved today with Jet. I lost control of myself today." He closed his eyes, knowing that if Monk Gyatso was there by his side he would have been ashamed of him. He knew that if he couldn't control his anger and hurt then Ozai would win, and all of his nightmares would come true.

The Waterbender saw fear swelling up again in his body, and she gently placed her hands on his very warm arms. She looked at his sky blue tattoos, still amazed at them. She grazed her fingers over it and making goose bumps show on his skin. "Hey," she whispered "it's okay. We all get angry sometimes—"

H cut her off, "not for me Katara. I can't ever have that pleasure. If I were to fully lose concentration, there is nothing that would be able to hold me back once I have released _him_." He said with stormy gray eyes of his that were looking to be like a hurricane about to erupt out of them any second. Katara unfolded his arms and took his hand into hers as she led him to the side of the bed where they both sat down. She let him relax for a few seconds, hoping it would help calm his nerves.

"You are going to get angry Aang, of that you can be sure of. It's just something we all have, but I know everything's going to be okay. I know you are stronger than you think."

Aang let go of her hands and placed his elbows on his thighs to support his upper weight as his head hung low. "It's becoming more and more difficult for me now, Katara. Ever since I found out about my people… the sea of flames inside of me seems to be growing and even though I haven't done anything completely horrible, I fear that I soon will. And I don't want anyone of you, including Jet, to get hurt. I could never forgive myself if I did that to any of you." He gave a small sarcastic laugh, "there are days I wish I was far away from all of you, and back with Guru Pathik."

"Why would you say such a horrible thing?" she questioned, wishing that he had never said that to her. Most of the time Katara could feel his emotions and for that she was grateful for, but he was so good at hiding his emotions that it was as if he would put a mask on every day.

"Because I had someone who knew what they were doing with me. I know everyone, especially you, have helped me and I am forever in all of your debts for that. But you do not posses the knowledge of what I seek. Even when I am in my meditation, I risk so much at seeking help…I feel so—alone."

The dark skinned girl wrapped her arms around him, and placed the side of her head on his left shoulder. She wanted to say so much to the man she loved, but decided to hold her tongue. The silence in their room was like a sharp knife poking at their skin; terrifying and something you couldn't ignore. All she could do right then was hold him while gently rocked him. Her right hand slid down his back until she felt the scar from Azula, causing her to look at the damage. It was still very pink and it seemed like she couldn't heal it anymore for him. She hated how it made his blue tattoos disappear just made it seem like a special part of him was missing.

"Does it still bother you?" he asked, breaking the silence between them finally. Aang understood why it bothered her so much that day and it only seemed like a constant reminder of his death and resurrection, in which only she could do.

She rubbed it with her thumb, "not as much as it used to. It's just something I wish I could forget sometimes, but it's not easily forgotten when you carry it with you for the rest of your life."

He nodded, "it is something I remember greatly…but what I remember the most is when I thought I had died, I opened my eyes to you. For a second I thought I was in the Heavens and I truly believed that all Angels looked like you. But when I saw the tears in your eyes, I didn't know what to think."

This made her lips curl a little as she kissed his shoulder and hugged him, "I wasn't going to give up on you that easily Aang. I'm certainly not going to give up on you still. I love you too much, and that is what gives me hope with you."

Now it was his turn to grin as he looked up into her ocean eyes, amazed at how she could connect things together and make him feel good about himself. It was a gift she had, one in which he was sure that her Mother taught her at a very young age. He lifted his right hand towards her face and kissed on top of her forehead as he inhaled her unforgettable smell; rain and pink carnation.

"Thank you, Katara. You have no idea what strength you give me when I become like this." He said just in time before a knock on the door came. Letting them know that dinner was ready. The Waterbender blushed a little and then helped him get up as they walked out of their room and into the entrance of where they came in.

The table was filled with all kinds of food; fish on top of rice, noodles with veggies in them, fried puffs, fried meat dumplings, bean curds, steamed bread, steamed stuff buns, mixed fruits and tea for all of them to drink. As soon as Katara and Aang sat down across from each other, Aunt Wu walked in. She hadn't changed in the least bit, but anyone could tell that she was getting a little bit older every year. The tall woman smiled at all of them and bowed to them all. Sokka already had food in his mouth when she had entered; in which Suki made him spit it back out on the plate. The Fortuneteller walked past them until she was at the head of the table between the Avatar and the blue eyed girl.

She grinned at the Gang and extended her hands out to them, "please enjoy my young travelers. Don't be modest." Everyone eyed each other and then began to eat. At first the table was very quiet, but then the questions started to flow to Aunt Wu.

Zuko was first, "so Aang and Katara tell us that you're a Fortuneteller. How does that work exactly?"

"I can read someone's palms, cloud read, or study the cracks of a bone in the fire. It's not really something I can fully explain, but I call it a gift from the Spirits. I try not to questions their gifts that they give us mere mortals. "

"And you are always right?" he interrogated again and thinking about his Mom.

Both her lips curled at him, "no one is perfect Fire Lord, but I see what _you_ show me. My duty is not to lie, but speak the truth. In which I can tell you are a man who only wants the honesty from others around you."

Zuko looked back down at his food, and then grabbed his chopsticks as he began to eat the bowl of rice and fish. Mai wasn't at all impressed by this woman in the least bit, and believed in deciding her own destiny in life. If someone told you your future you could very easily make it happen all by yourself just, because some fraud told you it would happen. You would think about it constantly and therefore make yourself do it unintentionally.

Suki was next in line for asking questions once she took a drink of the warm tea, "so you see what is going to happen and when?"

She shook her head, "no my dear that is not how it works. I cannot tell you the exact date of an occurrence, nor can I see the people you may want me to in the future. I only see the course of _your_ life and not of others."

"See!" Sokka bellowed out, and took another bite of bean curd. "She isn't as predictable as you all thin—" and then he stopped from the food caught in his throat. He couldn't breathe all of the sudden, feeling the piece of food and tried giving himself a Heimlich but wasn't succeeding. Luckily, Toph was next to him. She swung her hand way back far, and with a fist hit on the back as hard as she could. They all knew that the blind girl could know the wind out of you, and that was exactly what he needed. The food went flying in the air with Momo jumping up to catch and he began to eat it with haste. The young boy coughed again and again until he was finally able to bring the air back into his lungs.

Aunt Wu held her laugh back, "at least I am right about one thing."

Everyone then began to giggle at the fortune that she gave Sokka, and it only made his cheeks redden a little bit. "That doesn't mean anything! Anyone can choke on a bean curd!" he said with a fist hitting the table, but ended up grazing his bowl of hot noodles that fell into his lap. The Gang tried to hold back their laughs, but Toph didn't care in the least bit as she fell on her back laughing with tears in her eyes and making the others chuckle at him. Even Aunt Wu held a small smile as she picked up some rice and put it into her mouth. Sokka stood with some of the noodles falling off and others hung onto his clothes; he walked out angrily with his fists at his sides and muttering words that Aang never knew existed.

Once Toph got her giggling out and sat back up next to Teo. He then asked, "Aunt Wu do you enjoy doing your job? Don't you ever have bad news for people?"

"Of course I do, and I always feel sad when I tell them something awful will happen to them. Ask Aang, he wasn't too happy when I gave him his fortune." Everyone eyed him, as did Katara.

The Monk gave her a fake half grin, not really wanting to talk about it in front of Katara. "no one wants to know what their destiny holds. I only wanted to know about—something else." He quickly picked up a piece of lettuce and tossed it into his mouth, hoping that it would be the end of the conversation.

"Which was?" Toph questioned as she felt his heart changing pace all of the sudden.

The dark skinned girl saw this and changed the subject, "the people here seem to be doing okay with what is going on in the world."

Aunt Wu nodded, "with the wall that the young Airbender blew for us, many people pass right by us. In a way it keeps them safe from the evil that is brewing."

"So you do know that a war is coming?" Suki asked.

"The clouds have told me young warrior. My people know it to be true when I told them of my predictions."

"Will the town be destroyed?" Katara questioned, remembering once every year that she would tell the villagers yes or no.

"I told them that the volcano would not destroy them, as I have done for the past years. They only care enough about themselves that they don't want to know what is going on past the great wall that so surrounds us."

Aang finally looked up under his eyelashes, "but you do. Don't you?"

A sad sigh came from her mouth, "I do indeed young Avatar."

"Then why not tell them?" Mai wanted to know.

"Because I believe that they do know what is going on, but wish not to know. In a way, living life as normally as possible is their way of hope. Unless they ask, I will not tell."

"What do you see happening?" Zuko asked.

She looked at all of them, leaving Aang for last. "I must look into your futures to understand."

Suki raised an eyebrow, "understand what?"

"Why it seems that the Spirits themselves are not allowing me to see what is going to happen. I believe you are all possibly the key to this mystery. There are too many variables that I have taken into account, and must now try to figure it out."

"Why would you think that we are the key?" the Waterbender challenged.

She gave them a small grin, "as soon as you all walked in, I knew your destinies were intertwined with the Avatar. Which means that perhaps even your futures are linked together?"

This brought back a memory for Katara during her first encountering with Aang. Zuko had just taken him away from her so that her people wouldn't get hurt. Just as she and Sokka were leaving to go after him, Gran Gran stopped them and said _"you found him for a reason, and now your destinies are intertwined."_ It was so strange that Aunt Wu would say the same thing three years later, but the way Aunt Wu spoke about it seemed like something much more.

"What would you like us to do?" Katara said, speaking for the entire Gang.

The Fortuneteller took one last sip of her tea before she said, "allow me to see your fortune once again."

Aang's head suddenly went towards Aunt Wu, and did not like the idea of her poking around in his future. He knew very well what was coming, how they would all die, and watch the world burn at the mercy of his own hands. He didn't want the others to know yet, because he planned on telling them in his own time. Then again he never wanted to tell them anything. Aunt Wu knew Aang was not happy with this idea of hers, but she needed to understand why it was being kept a secret.

"I'm in!" Toph said slurping down a noodle that was hanging on her face, not really afraid of knowing her future. Then came Teo, Zuko, Suki who also voted in Sokka's favor, Mai did too, and then finally Katara. For a few minutes Aang didn't say anything, but just looked down at Momo was under the table giving him big eyes. The Monk swallowed the air in his mouth, and finally nodded in agreement with them without making eye contact.

The older woman stood up, "you first then young Earthbender." She said to Toph, and she immediately rose and followed her into the back of the room.

OooooOooooOoooo

After another few hours, it was at long last Aang's turn. Every time someone came out, a confused look rested on their faces. They would look at all of their friends before they went into their rooms and discussed amongst themselves. Katara was the last to come out, and he couldn't read her face reaction. She too was just as lost as the rest of them. The Monk slid the door and shut it very quietly as he turned around to see the woman writing some things down. It was so odd now to look at Aunt Wu with a fire brewing in front of her, it seemed to make her age another ten years. He went over and sat in the same spot as he did last time, and saw the bones that she once asked him to take so that she could read the breaks of the bones in the fire. This time she did not ask him to do that, but continued to ignore him as she doodled down some things that he couldn't see. Finally she turned to him, and held out her hand for him.

"Aunt Wu I already know my fate. I don't need another opinion to know it to be true," he said, but the woman still held her right hand out to him. He didn't reach out to them and she let her hand drop.

"…I have seen a fork in your friends' future Avatar Aang. In one, I see life and happiness, and then in another I see a shadowed man with fire burning in his eyes and only death surrounds him. Do you believe you are the cause of this?"

Aang hesitated for a second, "why is there a fork?"

"It's a decision that has not been made by someone yet, but it is what will decide what is to come."

"What if the decision has already been already been made, and there is nothing that can be done to change it?" Aang challenged her.

She sighed heavily, "who we are defines what we can do to change our own destinies. Every choice, wrong turn, and mistakes we make along the road is just progress to what builds us up when we face that destiny. Do you not believe in that anymore?"

He shook his head sadly in regret, and finally confessed it all to her knowing she could keep a secret. "Just as you see predictions, I too have seen one. I wake up covered in blood that drips off of me like it is still fresh, I smell forests and bodies being burned around me, and when I hear a scream on the hill I run to the noise. When I look around, all of my friends have died, and the source of that is—me Aunt Wu. I kill the one woman I love, and I see the Demon that I become and Hell follows me." He said slowly as if he was telling a story to an old man who couldn't hear him and had to use a lot of pronunciations. He felt a little bit of relief of finally telling someone about his dreams, even though it may have been the wrong person. The Fortuneteller did not say anything, for now she could see that it was a decision that only _he_ would make. She could not predict what decision would be, but it would determine everyone's fate.

"And you so truly believe this?"

Aang gave her a hard look, "Avatar's have the ability to see the future too Aunt Wu, even the ancestors before me have seen thing. Nothing like mine though; they too believe in what I have seen, and all agree that it will come true."

"You sound as if you have already given up?"

The Monk glared at her as if she just insulted him, but relaxed a little before he spoke. "You know what, I just need to tell someone of how I feel, because it is just killing me on the inside. There is a strong part of me that wants to give up right here and now; to give into the darkness inside of me, and turn my back on the world. But…I know my responsibilities to the World are needed, as it is to my friends. They are the only true reason I fight for anything anymore. Without them—I am nothing. And yet I can never tell them what is going to happen to me…and to them. I want to give up, I really do, but a part of me still fights."

Aang never once took his eyes off of the Fortuneteller, and he saw no hint of fear or anger towards him. Then a small smile crept on her face as she said, "death is easier, peaceful even. But life—_life_ is much harder to live with unfortunately."

He sighed heavily into the fire, "it just seems that I will never be able to start mine. You see Aunt Wu, I'm in love with Katara and she is the only person who helps me make sense in a world of my own chaos."

"You could've fooled me with that amount of love and passion for her," Aunt Wu sarcastically remarked with a wink towards him.

He smiled for the first time and meaning it, "that obvious, huh?"

"Oh my dear boy, you couldn't pull the wool over _anyone's_ eyes to see just how much love you have for one another."

The bald kid laughed to himself, "I want a life with her Aunt Wu…but even you know that what ever future there is, I can never be in it."

"Do you believe that you are the source of this fork in their lives?"

Aang eyes went back to the fire in front of both of them, wishing he could burn away the future that he has seen, as well as his fears and the spirit deep within him. It was so strange to love fire, but not as much as his natural bending ability. When Zuko and he first began training him with Fire, he was very intimidated and timid with it; now he seemed to welcome it more than he wanted to. He knew Ozai's Spirit was the cause of it, but he just could help the feeling that he was starting to like it more and more when he was around it. Infernos seemed to follow him where ever he went, and there were times he craved on having a flame near him.

He finally looked back at her, and confessed some more. "Yes. And with all of my heart, I wish I wasn't the one to decide their fate."

"You are the Avatar; therefore you already make choices for them to live everyday." She said, trying to help the poor boy out. She didn't need to read anything but his face to know that he was telling the truth. At first the woman wanted to know the destiny for him, and now she accepted that it would only be the same vision she had last time with him; _a great battle between the forces of good and evil that will determine the fate of the whole world_.

"But it is different this time. I hold their lives in my hands, and yet I do not know if I have the capacity to do the right thing. I'm losing myself so much to this dark beast inside of me that I don't even recognize the Avatar that I am supposed to be. I'm just a fourteen year old kid and I have not had the luxury to live like one! Food is starting to not matter to me, I have evil thoughts, I lose my temper easily, and I hear him constantly now." He confessed again, knowing that he was giving too much away, but someone needed to know how he felt. Aang promised he would talk to Katara about these things, but he felt like he would not be worthy of her anymore; that she would look down upon him in disgust…he knew he would.

Aunt Wu gave him a friendly grin again, and reached out to his hand and held it. She could feel the roughness of his very hot palms, "you still have a choice Aang. All you need to do is find the solution to your problem."

The Monk yanked his hand from her and stood up with anger rising up in the fire again, "oh yea!" he said sarcastically, "gee why didn't _I_ think of that in the first place then, instead of trying to figure it out! That's all I have been doing every single second of every day, and you know what I've figured out so far? I. Have. No. Choice. None!" he yelled a little louder than necessary, hoping no one was listening in on their conversation. He was being so cruel to the Fortuneteller, even though he knew what was going to happen to him and his friends, but it only seem to make his heart hurt even more when he heard it out loud.

The older women look down at the fire, waiting for it to calm before she stood up. She wet her lips as she finally got up and walked over to the door and slid it, revealing that none of the Gang was there eavesdropping on him. Before she walked out she said one last thing that stuck with him the rest of that night, "if you so truly believe that, then it is time I find a wind to carry my ashes right now, because to you we are _all_ already dead."

OooooOooooOoooo

For the next couple of days, those words echoed in his head from Aunt Wu. She was right though none the less, and that's what really bothered him. His training with everyone became a really good distraction for him while they were there, and he wouldn't stop until his arms and legs felt like noodles. Suki continued to show him the arts of a Kyoshi Warrior when using someone else's force against them, and then he and Sokka would duel with the sword; after a while he picked up on fist fights just to keep himself occupied. Katara didn't like the idea just because she would have to eventually heal them both up for their stupidity. He hardly ate much, which he knew that Katara noticed, and he didn't speak much either. There were things he never noticed when he was still; he noticed that Teo and Toph had their hands intertwined in one another's hands at the market secretly, in which he was greatly happy for them, but what surprised him even more was that the Gang didn't seem to talk about their futures at all. It was almost as if they still didn't know the truth of their destinies.

Aang had been flying around for hours in the sky, letting the wind carry him wherever he wanted to go. With the air whipping past his clothes it became easier for think about his life, his friends, and his duties as the Avatar, and more importantly he thought of Katara. Now more than ever the betrothal necklace he made for her seemed to weigh down in his right pocket, and instead of the joy of his future surrounding it, it seemed to only represent an impossible dream. He remembered just a few nights ago when he pulled out the necklace after Aunt Wu's walked out on him. He stood on the outskirts of the village and holding onto the thing he valued immensely.

_Aang examined it, recalling the reason he had made this piece of tranquil and how it seemed like something that would never come true. Without a hesitant thought he threw it as far as he could into the woods just south of the village, using his airbending to make disappear farther into the trees. He turned his back on it and was about to walk away, but his heart began to break and the sick feeling of nausea began to make his body quiver. A tear fell onto his hand, and it was like in that instant he realized his own mistake. It took him the rest of the night before he finally found it in a small stream of water that could have been lost forever, if not for the small rock that stopped it from flowing farther down. He sighed with relief as the sun rose up from the sky while he picked up the one thing that was keeping him connected to this world. The dream of one day marrying the only women he would ever love, but he knew that he could never have it._

The Monk still didn't know why he went after it, looking for so many hours on something that seemed so useless and pointless. And yet it was still something he hoped for, that small piece of hope is the reason he looked for it. It was something he just didn't understand about himself; then again it was the only thing that made any sense. All that time while he was away he thought of nothing but her, and now his future was all his mind ever thought of too. Aang looked down to the ground to realize that he was gliding down towards the volcano that once almost destroyed the small village, and if he hadn't gone to get a Panda Lilly for Katara they might've never known about the eruption. He made his glider fold back up in its original look before he landed on the pile of igneous rock and walked up to the peek of it; happy to see that there was no lava this time around. But the one thing that flourished around it were all of the Panda Lilly's, there seemed to be hundreds of them now just growing on top.

A small smile began to form on his face as he thought of Katara perhaps liking these flowers, and how much they meant to him. He had always had a small crush on her, but it was like when they came to this village and when he made her that necklace out of Sokka's fishing line, his crush for her seemed to grow stronger. Aang walked amongst the lily's as he tried not to step on any one of them, and finally bent down to one of them. The lily itself was far more beautiful than he remembered; white pedals with a black color on the outside of all five pedals, two green carpel's stuck out in the middle of a fur of green softness, and on top of the carpals were tan anthers. The Monk reached out towards it, and picked it off from the earth as he lifted it towards his nose and breathed in the smell of sweet beauty in the Heavens. It was truly breath taking to him and he knew it would be a good gift for her as an apology towards his actions the past few days. He also knew that he needed to apologize to Aunt Wu, who only told him what he already knew and needed to hear. The Airbender picked one for each woman; the Fortuneteller and Katara.

OooooOooooOoooo

"Guys," Katara said to the Gang as they began to have breakfast "I'm worried about Aang. Ever since the argument, he seems to be distancing himself again."

"I agree with sweet cheeks over here." Toph said, "he is taking a lot of time into his training so much that it's making _me_ tired."

"Do you know what the argument was about?" she asked the blind girl, hoping for some input on this whole situation with Aunt Wu. Then Katara noticed some pink forming around Toph's cheeks in which the Waterbender's her eyes towards Teo. He too was blushing bright colors. He looked down quickly at the bowl of food in his hand to avoid anyone else seeing him.

"No, I was—sleeping like a rock… probably the reason why I didn't hear a thing." She said with a quick panic, recalling that Katara could smell a relationship a mile away. It only happened a few days ago, but it seem like only seconds to her. Teo held back his smile as he remembered that night so well.

_The dark skies were perfect for the stars to take a peek at the world with a gibbous moon to shine down on them. He and Toph had been "walking" around the town, trying to get the layout of the place in case something might happen and they would need an escape route. It was just a routine that they both gotten into after traveling around so much with the Gang and it was also the only time they could ever be alone to talk about things they normally wouldn't. But for some reason today, his nerves were a little shaky and he knew that Toph was feeling his heart a little too much; however, she only smiled when she did hear it. _

_They both continued to walk around in silence, and hearing nothing crazy happening around them. After about thirty four minutes of snooping around, they both came to a small wishing well where there were some coins in the water. Toph decided lean against the outer rim of the old pale bricks that seemed like they were going to break any second, but she was smart enough to sense if that were to happen. Teo reached into his pocket and pulled out two copper pieces, and held it tightly in his right hand. _

"_Feel like making a wish?" he said, hoping it could help stir the conversation with them. Normally, they were pretty talkative on their routes, but they both seemed to not want to speak about it. _

_Toph took a second to think and then shook her head, "I don't believe in that stuff."_

_For some reason Teo got the impression that there was much more to that sentence then she led on, "you don't believe wishes can come true?"_

_The pale green eyed girl scoffed at the word _wishes_. "No, not for a long time."_

_Teo rolled up closer to her, and thought about his words carefully before he spoke to her. The moon on her smooth face made him want to so desperately reach out to them and touch those cheeks of hers. He became very envious that the sphere above them had the honor of doing it without her consent. Her hair was a jet black color in the night skies, and her eyes seemed to glisten of a silvery color mixing the light green from the moon bouncing off of them. Her face alone was far more than beautiful; she was admirable, charming, exquisite, and ravishing to him. _

_The mechanic flipped one of the coins into the air, and caught it in his left hand. "You know," he began in a gentle and calm voice, "when I lost my mother during the flood, I thought my life couldn't be any worse. I woke up in my Father's arms, and told him that I couldn't feel my legs at all. And every single day, I would plead with the Spirits and wish under their names to let me walk and so that I could help bring my Mom back. And every day I was denied that luxury in my life for so many years that I became used to it. I wallowed in self-pity for a _very_ long time." _

_Toph became very interested in where he was going with this, and also had a very strong feeling that he knew what she meant about wishes. When she was younger, and didn't understand her blindness, she too would wish to see the world in colors. She perilously wanted nothing more than to trade her eye sight for anything the world had to offer her. Even though the badger moles were wonderful Masters to her, and taught her to see, a part of her still wished that she could truly see all of the bright lightings, darkness's, and even the most simple of colors. _

"_I remember my dad telling me not to give up on my wish, but I knew he was only trying to make me feel better like any other father would. Until one day he started packing up my things and he told me that we were leaving. When I asked where, he said he did not know, but he would know once he saw it. At first I thought he was crazy and he just wanted me to get out of the house. And after searching for a long while, we came upon the Northern Air Temple. From then on, my life changed a lot. I love to fly now, but there aren't days that I wish I could still walk…especially when I am with you."_

_The Earthbender looked over in his direction without making eye contact, and a small blemish began to form on her face. "And there are days that I wish I could see your face, know what color of eyes you have, what your hair looks like at night or when the sun is shining brightly down on it. But I have learned not to wish anymore Teo. They just seem like dreams wasted away on the pathetic." Toph proclaimed, knowing that she was being cruel, but after making those walls around her for years it was hard to let anyone see how she really felt._

_The boy in the wheelchair still didn't believe her, "do you want to know what the best part about wishes and dreams that don't come true?" He let her think about it for a second before he would answer his question, and then smiled to her. "We get to make new ones. As many as we want to even."_

"_What's the point of wishing for something else when the others didn't come true?" she retaliated back, thinking that she finally had him cornered. _

_He laughed a little, remembering that this was _Toph_ he was talking to; a young lady who shows no hint of fear, and has the armor of a ferocious dragon. "From what I have learned, Toph is that wishes don't always come true like the way _we_ want them to. I wanted to walk, but instead I get to fly around like Aang. You were born blind, but you were also given the gifting to feel the earth underneath your feet, and all of your other senses are stronger than any other persons. So you see it did come true, but it wasn't how you thought it would turn out to be."_

_For the first time Toph was very impressed with that answer. Her parents didn't want her to give up on hoping and wishing for better days, but they had never explained it like Teo did. It was almost—magical to her the way he said it. And it actually made sense too. She gave him a grin, "since when did guys in wheelchairs become so smart?"_

_He smirked, "probably about the same time blind girls used Earthbending to see."_

_They both laughed, realizing yet again just how alike they were. Toph had never met someone as remarkable as him, and she wondered if she wasn't blind and he wasn't in a wheelchair, would they be having this conversation right now? Even though she was young and only two years off from the age of marriage, she began to kind of believe that he could actually be the one person she could easily fall in love with. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know what that feeling felt like. She loved being around him, talking, laughing, and even having these walks. But had she protected herself so much that she could be missing an opportunity right now? She didn't know how to love someone like the others. Yes, she loved them and her parents, but it wasn't the same way she did with Teo. And she was going to have to do the one thing she hated most…talk to Katara about _love_._

"_What are thinking about right now?" he asked, waking her out of her thoughts. She had had such a focused look of trying to make an attempt to lift up the volcano behind them. _

"_Ugh," she began "I was just wondering…what color of hair you have." It wasn't a complete lie, but also not the whole truth. _

"_Black."_

_Just like hers, she thought. "Eyes?"_

"_Grey."_

_For a split second, she thought about Katara and the way she talked about Aang's grey eyes. She told her once that there were days when it was like looking into a storm or a hurricane, and then there were times when they looked like rain clouds. She wondered if his was the same way…but she didn't want his to be anything like Aang's. That was just creepy to her._

"_How many time have you kissed a girl?" she asked unintentionally, and then her eyes got bigger. She could feel her own heart racing out of stupidity, wanting to go back a few more seconds and catch herself from asking it. But he wasn't mad, upset, or even irritated by her surprising question. _

_Teo could see in the moon light the shadows that formed on her face as she tried to hide her pink cheeks and he only thought it to be the most adorable thing on her. Embarrassment fit her well, and he liked it a lot on that perfect face of hers. "Yes," he answered. _

_The blind girl looked down to the earth disappointed, but shouldn't be surprised by it. He was an amazing guy, he could fight, build mechanisms, really smart, brave, talented, and could think quick on his feet, so to speak. "Was it any good?" she questioned shyly, as if she was a small girl all over again. _

_Teo thought about it for a second and began to shake his head, "no. Unfortunately, it was a stolen kiss from a girl who was sick, and ended up giving me a virus. I remember thinking to myself, if this is what kissing is like then I would never do it again." He teased her, hoping to see a small reaction from her. In which he did._

"_Oh…" she said so quietly and now felt completely ridiculous for even asking that question. The Earthbender knew better than to talk about romance with a guy, because it was never her best strong suit. She licked her lips sadly, wondering what a kiss felt like. Every time the others in the gang did it, she always felt their hearts speed up for some reason in which she didn't quite, understand why. It was just kissing, so why would it make your heart speed up so much? _

_Teo smiled showing his teeth and flipped the other coin and catching it in his left. "But you know I've heard that if you wish for something you throw a coin in a well to make it come true. Do you believe enough in a wish to change someone?" _

_It wasn't until then that she realized he was toying with her, but decided to play along with him anyways. "I suppose so, but what if he doesn't want me to wish for what I want?"_

_His smiling didn't fade as he put the coin into her hand, "then I believe one wish is worth the risk for the impossible."_

_This too made the dark haired girl grin as she took the copper piece into her right hand, and then they both took a second to wish; both flipping their coins into the air simultaneously into the well and did not move until they heard it splash into the water. _

_Toph didn't know what to do after tossing the coin into the water, so she asked. "Now what?" _

"_Now we wait and see if it happens." _

"_Psht. Well that sounds stupid to do; I thought these wishes worked quickly?" _

"_It took me a few years to earn my wish and the exact same for you. It's not a Genie in a lamp that grants you your wish right then and there, but it's a memory that you will keep wishing for it." _

_The Earthbender started to walk now, with Teo on her left side. "If I would have known that, I wouldn't have even wasted that lame piece of copper on it then." _

_He saw through her, "maybe, but I doubt it." _

_They both continued walking and rolling back to Aunt Wu's home, tired now from all that had happened tonight. In the distance still he could see that all of the lights were out except for in their room. They both slept separately in their tents and any room that was available to them, not sure when the right time would be to sleep next to each other. He wanted to so very desperately, but he was new to the whole thing of romance or even a relationship. It wasn't even until they met each other that the thought of it began to grow in his mind without his consent. When he saw that blind Earthbender again, the pieces began to just fall into place; he wondered if this is how love felt. _

_The young couple stood there in front of the Fortunetellers house in an awkward moment, not sure what was going to happen. Teo, on the other hand, was already forming a plan in his mind. A couple months back, his wheel kept on losing a screw and would make him completely stop from rolling. Toph was always there to help him out, bending a rock in the shape to last long enough until he could buy some metal screws. He had indeed fixed it, but figured it might just work to his favor. He started working on it quickly, feeling it not unscrew as he turned it to the left; and he started to get frustrated as the grip would slip between his fingers. _

_The fourteen year old girl scratched the back of her head, realizing that nothing was going to happen tonight. "Well we should probably turn in Teo, it's getting a little late and I don't want the others to ask questions of our whereabouts this late at night."_

"_Yeah, you're probably right." He said just in time as he unscrewed the one piece that made his wheel roll._

_Toph nodded sadly, and started walking again, but didn't feel the vibration of the wheel on the concrete following her. "You coming or would you rather spend the night outside here?"_

"_Shoot!" he said loud enough not wake the others up, "my wheel is busted again, and I can't move."_

_The girl sighed and walked over towards him on his left side, and bent down to feel the problem on the wheel. It was the same issue he had months ago, "I thought you told me you fixed this?"_

_For the first time, he was looking down at her and it felt like he was actually standing in front of her in a strange way. "I thought I did…"_

_She scoffed at him a little and suddenly felt a hint of his heart racing on the chair. Toph didn't know why he was freaking out about this. She had helped fixed it a million times, but there was no reason for it to race over a small issue. Suddenly, she felt those leather gloves of his on her face with his rough thumb stroking left her cheek. Toph closed her eyes, loving the feel on his hands on her skin, and amazed at how wonderful they felt. For so long she had wondered, and it made her lean into it. Teo then placed his other hand on her other cheek so she wouldn't move, but her eyes remained shut. She didn't know why she should remain still, but her body told her to. Toph then began to feel the heat of his breath on her eye lashes as he got closer to her, and then the feeling something that she would never forget; his lips on hers. They were soft, and his lips weren't too big or too skinny, but seemed to fit on hers like a piece of a missing puzzle. She could feel his heart racing now, or was it hers that was doing that? Fireworks went off in her head as her body shivered for some reason, and when he deepened the kiss a little bit more her body did it again. Instantly, she forgot how to breathe. She didn't mean to, but she pulled away from him as she tried to catch breath, but instead they both said one word. "Whoa."_

_Teo's smile had grown big enough that he thought it might have reached his ears, and wanted to do it again. "_Baby steps,_" he thought to himself. "_Baby steps._" This was all just as new to him as it was to Toph, and he wasn't sure what was supposed to happen now. _

_Once she finally composed herself a little bit more she said with a raised eyebrow as to how she got into this position, "you planned this?" _

_He chuckled, "not in the beginning no, I just came up with it about two minutes ago."_

_Toph laughed too, "sorry I pulled away. I couldn't breathe for some reason."_

_Teo nodded, agreeing with her on that as he tried to figure out how the others would seem to do it for long periods of time. "Makes two of us then. But they always say that practice makes perfect."_

"_You would want to do it again—with me?" she questioned his motives, not sure if she was even a good kisser. _

"_Absolutely! And now I wish you were my first kiss instead of that girl that got me sick." He proclaimed, hoping it would suffice her enough and then he added more. "I have only kissed one person, and it was not of my choice. Now I have gotten the one girl I have wanted to kiss for so long, and it was the most amazing feeling in the entire world. I think it's very easy to become addicted to kissing someone you have liked for so long." _

_Again Toph blushed at his words, "well you are right about one thing. Wishes do come true," she said, feeling her heart not skipping a beat. _

_His eyes went back to those lips of hers and before he kissed her again he said, "in more ways than you think." _

Sokka raised an eyebrow to both of them, "you're kidding right?"

The both of them looked towards him, thinking that he knew what they had really been doing nights ago. Toph felt like throwing up with the thought of the Warrior gawking at them through a window or the idea of him telling Suki. He would make fun of them, catch them before they would kiss again, or just be his immature self. Well it was worth a try, she thought to herself.

"The greatest Earthbender of all was sleeping like a rock, and couldn't hear an argument that was ten feet away, but you can hear Combustion Man hundreds of feet away?"

Toph shrugged and allowed herself to release the air that she was holding back, "maybe you didn't hear me the first time, I-slept-like-a-rock!"

"Are you sure it wasn't because you two snuck out that night, and didn't come back till about early into the next day?" Suki said, getting a little bit of payback on her for all those times she heard Sokka and her and wouldn't stop reminding them as she poked and joked at them.

Now Katara was intrigued, and Toph was embarrassed yet again. "We were talking about Aang, remember? And I think he will come around to talk to you when he is ready. He always does!" the blind girl said, hoping the subject could change about her personal life.

"Defensive too I might add," Zuko whispered through his teeth to the others and it caused them to giggle.

Aunt Wu sat amongst them now, "we cannot expect others to confess what they are not ready to talk about yet." She said, pouring herself a hot cup of green leaf tea and putting on thin slice of lemon in it. "We must be patient and let them come to us."

"What are you, a Fortune Cookie now?" Sokka bellowed out, "you're the reason Aang is acting this way! Ever since your "talk" with him, he hasn't been the same since. Care to explain?"

She took a long sip, and gently put the tea down. "My job, Sokka is not to tell others about their future. That is like taking a peek into someone's thoughts and learning all of their secrets. No one has that right to do that."

"And yet you foretell the future?" Zuko imposed.

"I can see your point of view on this issue Fire Lord, but when someone gives themselves over to me free of will, I am not invading their privacy in any way. People want to know their futures, they just don't want to hear of the journey it will take in order to achieve it. And I never saw Aang's future, he would not let me."

Everyone stopped what they were doing; even Meng seemed to question this too. Katara was most surprised about this too, knowing that he had always been curious of their future and yet wasn't willing to look into it anyways. Was he that scared of their future, or even his? Was there something else he was hiding from her that he didn't want her to know? So many questions were filling into her mind, as if it was a Pai Sho game and she didn't know what move to make next.

"But we heard you two arguing about something?" Suki budged in now too.

The Fortuneteller sighed, "let me ask this entire group just one question, how many secrets do you keep from each other? You don't say it because you to protect them, others you just won't say because you don't want to hurt them, or some that you are afraid to speak of." She looked around at all of them, not even the sound of a breath could be heard. "Whether it is someone you just met, a long time friend, or a spouse, you don't just dump all of your deepest darkest mysteries onto them. You have to earn it first. And he will tell you when the time is right, but only by _his_ time."

Aunt Wu got up with half of her tea on the table still steaming, "I can see when I am not welcomed though, so please forgive me as I excuse myself." She bowed to them, and went outside to get some fresh air.

They all watched her go out the door, and slide it shut with the room quiet once again; feeling ashamed and losing their appetites too, even Sokka didn't feel like eating. Aunt Wu was right, but for Katara it wasn't so easy to accept her words. There was something in her eyes when she talked of his future, and it seemed to show fear in them. It was the first time she had ever seen her like this, only to make her even more analytical. Just when things had gotten worse with her and the Airbender, it seemed to get even worse. She had thought they were past their secrets, but he obviously had a different definition for "secret." The Waterbender just didn't know what else to do with him. All she ever wanted from him was honesty, and yet he didn't see eye to eye on this either. Katara desperately wanted to help him with whatever he is going through, but he just simply won't let her in.

"_What is it that has him _so_ spooked?_" Katara thought to herself, not realizing that everyone else had left the table; leaving her alone with her thoughts.

OooooOooooOoooo

After flying around a little bit longer till night came around, he finally landed in front of Aunt Wu's home. It was extremely late and he felt exhausted. With the hour that it was it only seemed to make him even more tired. He dragged his feet to his room and slid it open, revealing the woman he loved asleep soundly. The Avatar set his staff to the side once he took a step in, and walked over towards her bedside. He sat down next to her, with one hand over the right side to balance himself over her and the other removing a strand of hair from her face. She always looked so at peace when she was asleep, and it seemed like the duties just melted off of her in the night. Aang made circles with his thumb on her cheek, feeling the soft cloud of her skin as she sighed underneath his touch. Aunt Wu and his conversation still rang loudly in his mind, and he thought of the destiny ahead of him. He would do anything to make sure Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko and all of the others lived a long and happy life. He had lived long enough, even if a hundred years of hiding were stolen from him, but none the less the others had so much more to live for.

He wanted Zuko and Mai to have children, to see that Sokka and Suki marry, and even for Toph and Teo to perhaps one day be betrothed to each other. And as for Katara…Aang wanted her to find someone who could love her more than he ever could, and be there for her when he couldn't. To marry, raise a family, have children and maybe even great grandchildren before she passed away as an old woman with no regrets in life. It was a dream to him though, nothing more. Aang couldn't imagine anyone being with her, but it was no longer his say in that matter

"_Can I actually let her go this time? Let her live her life, and never see me again? Without life there is no love…I can't offer her anymore."_ He thought to himself as he hovered a few inches from her face, always amazed at no matter how many times he memorized her angelic features she would still seem to surprise him.

"_Do not give up on love yet young Avatar,_" the mysterious woman's voice came back into his mind. He hadn't heard from this Spirit in so long, he was so sure he had dreamt it all.

He sighed, and got up from the bed as he walked on air so as not to disturb Katara. Aang slid the door closed and went up to the second floor and finding his way onto the rooftop so that he could concentrate. Usually it would take him being in the Spirit World to hear what they have to say, but for this one, she did not abide to keep her distance from him. He made himself comfortable on the roof with the dark clouds covering up the moon and stars tonight.

"Finally started talking to me again?" he asked out loud, not caring if anyone heard him or not. Everyone was asleep, and if someone saw him then they would think him crazed.

"_I never left you Airbender. I only come when you are ready to give up, or are in need of a friend to talk to." _She said very sweetly as if he was her own child or something.

He snicker with a laugh, "oh really? Then maybe you haven't been as observant as you think you have been oh _wise_ Spirit," he exaggerated sarcastically with some aggression behind his words, "because it's only gotten worse and this is the first encounter I have even had with you since I freed those people in the caves! So technically you only come when _you_ want to! It has nothing to do with the position I am in."

The Angel sighed, "_I know there is nothing I can say to make you less angry with me, but you need to understand that I come to you when you truly are lost. You are giving up on everyone and everything you love._"

"Wow! How long did it take you to figure that one out?"

She giggled at his reaction, "_I am not here to argue with you Avatar Aang. I just want to help you see the light a little bit better._"

"Why—why do you even want to help me? My destiny is set and I have no idea how to change it, or if I even can…"

"_The night is always darker before the sun rises up to chase it away._"

"Yea and the sun will set again and night will come to seize what it once had; a continuing to fight over the skies. You speak of what I already know, and yet you are of no help to me still." He said with a grumble, as he looked out towards the horizon with the trees.

"_Why do you speak like this? I know you haven't truly given up yet._" She said, hoping to make him come back into reality.

"You don't know me at all," Aang proclaimed with more anger festering inside of him, and giving into what Ozai wanted. He already has him, what more is there to do.

"_You're wrong. I know you care for your friends more than you do for your own safety or yourself. I know that you would risk life and death for them, and that no matter how far you push away from Katara you will always love her in a way that very few people find in this lifetime or the next. I know that everyday a part of you is dying away, and you question the love she has for you. You are starting to even question your friends' loyalty as well. And I know you are taking responsibility for the death of your people, and that you truly don't understand why Afiko betrayed would you and the other Air Nomads out of jealousy._" The Great Spirit said bluntly.

Aang placed his head in hands, and then moved them over to the back of his neck. He let out a breath of warm air, "it's so much more than that now…I just learned that an Airbender that lived among my people not only destroyed every Airbending Temple, but also anyone else who stood against the Fire Lord. And when I read that he was later killed for his betrayal and when I read that I—"

"…_you were happy._" She finished his thought for him.

The Monk could feel himself about to cry but held it back with all of his strength, not wanting to shed one tear for that monstrous betrayer. "It goes beyond happy. When I read that, I wished myself to see the day that man died. There are times where I dreamed that I killed him by my hands and did not feel any remorse what so ever. I have choked the life out of him until his heart beats no more, let him sink to the bottom of the darkest ocean floor as he drowned, or watch him being burned alive until there was nothing left but his ashes on the ground and even with those ashes, I still feel disgusted to still be standing on the same ground as him. I am _never_ satisfied."

"_You know that this isn't who you are Aang, this is the works of Ozai and you know it! But you are just giving in because it is so easy for you to do._"

"That's right!" he yelled to the sky above him trying to find her, "it is so much easier than you can imagine; giving into my fear, pain, anger, anxiety, and all of my past wounds! It is much easier to let myself go." He could feel the fire slowly rising up from his feet like a bunch of fire ants biting all over his body, and going higher up on his waist. Aang didn't care though; it was like a free pass out of jail for him if he did.

"_And the price is that you would lose everything that you hold dearly to your heart if you give in now, or even in the distant future. We don't always know what is going to happen in the next minute, day, week, month, or even a year from now, but we can control what happens now. In this very moment that you are in._" She said with urgency, seeing the red glow rising up to his body, it was just below his chest now. Only Spirits could see the true form rising in him, and even though it was risky for her to do this she believed it was necessary.

He began to cry, "but what if I fail them? What if everything that I am fighting for is for a future that no longer exist?"

"_Monk Gyatso once told you that we cannot concern ourselves with what was, but we must act on ourselves for what is. You are dwelling so much on the past and the future and not on the present moment!"_

With Gyatso's name being mentioned, memories of his childhood flowed with him in it. "I am afraid…so, so afraid Great Spirit of what I am capable of destroying all that I love. I possess power of great bending abilities within me and I fear that I am going to let everyone down." He said, feeling heat rising up in his chest and getting closer to his heart.

Aang could not see what she could, and there was only one way to undo what was about to happen to him. "_Why did you even go after that betrothal necklace? It would have been better if you just left it to rot, just like what you will do with her!_" the Angel voice was now like sharp nails scratching against a smooth surface.

"I never said I would let her die!"

"_What is the difference? You have already given up, and therefore she is already dead. Perhaps she will be better off here in the Spirit World than down there with you!"_

Aang's headache was returning full throttle, as if someone was banging his head back and forth onto the ground. He was completely covered in sweat, and everything began to grow very dark around him. Voices of Ozai and the woman were mixed among themselves, as he grabbed his head with both of his hands. He could feel his wounds from Ozai and the scar Azula left for him begin to burn all over again. It felt like when you burned yourself, and when you went outside the sun knew where to burn you again. The Airbender collapsed onto the roof, feeling his body shake as if he was having a seizure and there wasn't anything he could do. He started rolling on the house, but leaned too much to the right and began rolling down until he hit the concrete floor chest first.

The wind was knocked out of him with a loud "oof!" He tried to breath but it was too impossible for him to do so, and he could feel his heart dying as it began to beat at a slower rhythm. He began to loose strength, and the fight in him started to fade away too. Finally, Aang was able to breath, but it was too late for his body. He could feel everything starting to shut down, as Ozai's hand was almost fully grasping his good heart. The Avatar rolled onto his back, moaning in pain, and didn't realize that he was calling out to someone.

"_Aang!_" He heard voice of the woman say, but it wasn't the exact same voice as the Spirits. "_Aang! I'm right here!_" She said while he felt cool hands on top of his wet bald head, like any mother would do when their child had a fever.

Katara didn't know what to do to him, all of his wounds looked fresh and the cuts on his body started to bleed again. "_No, not again."_ She thought to herself, remembering the last time this happened at the Northern Air Temple; however, this seemed far worse than two years ago. The others held his shaking body down, even Toph earthbended around his body to help stop him, but he would always break through them. The Waterbender could tell that he was too strong for them, and was about ready to throw them off at any second. She quickly straddled on top of his stomach and grabbed his face with both of her hands. His eyes showed nothing but complete darkness while his tattoos began to slowly grow brighter. His airbending began to grow stronger with every second as he started to build a dome around himself, just like he did at the Southern Air Temple when he found Gyatso.

"_Aang! I need you to listen to my voice, and find me!"_ she said with a panic as she began to hyperventilate, and feeling his pain in her own body. Tears were running down her cheeks, and onto his face. "_Don't you dare give in Avatar! Don't you even think about it Aang! Please come back to me!_"

The Monk could hardly make out the sound, but he could have sworn that he could hear Katara. Darkness began to consume his mind and heart, and then he felt drops of rain falling on his face…or was it from the voice above him. There were so many voices; he didn't know who to trust. Aang didn't even know his own voice of conscience reasoning with him. Suddenly, he did feel something familiar…soft, moisturized lips on his. In that instant, memories of those lips began to run through his mind with Katara; the way she laughed, danced with the clouds, their waterbending lessons, her bringing him back to life, the Cave of Two Lovers as they kissed, the time he got her Moms necklace back and gave him his first kiss on the cheek, the Dance party, and then the betrothal necklace he made for her. He could feel the bending of the elements in his right pocket, and he began to calm down, feeling the energy within him start to slowly stop.

The strong winds of a tornado around them started to dissolve into the air, as Katara kept on kissing him; and tasting her tears as she did it. The glowing of his tattoos started losing their bright colors, and his shaking had ceased as well. His entire body went limp while everyone that surrounded him finally let go of him, but remained cautious just in case he was ready to start up again. The bleeding of his old scars stopped, and turned back into the pink scars on his skin. He blinked a few times to show his grey eyes were back to normal and all around him he only saw blurred figures. The Waterbender stopped kissing him once she heard him groan in agony, and opened her eyes to his. The moisture in her eyes of joy started to flow down her chin and drip onto his face. He started whispering and mumbling so low that Katara couldn't hear it.

"Wait, what did you say?" she whispered into his face and then place her ear next to his mouth so she could hear.

"H—he will come for you last…" he breathed out every word slowly before he passed out, unaware that he even said anything. And the world went dark once again around Aang, not sure if Ozai was now in control of him. However, for some reason, he didn't feel like he was.

Everyone breathed tirelessly as the bald Monk finally had passed out, and Katara was just as confused as ever. What did Aang mean when he said those words to her, and who will it be? And why would "he" come for her last?

"What the hell was that all about?" Zuko bellowed out, as everyone was thinking the same thing.

The Waterbender had a pretty good idea, but she had never seen this happen before with Aang. She had heard it once when she was sleeping, but it was a nightmare that woke him up screaming in the middle of the night at the Northern Air Temple. The Airbender told her things were getting harder for him, and she did not understand just how bad it was until now.

"Katara?" Suki asked, "do you know what's happening to him?"

The young teenage girl looked at all of the confused faces, and wanted to tell them about the situation that he was facing; however, Aang had promised her that he would tell his friends in due time, so for now had to keep her mouth shut.

Katara placed her hand on his forehead, feeling the fire underneath her hand. She sighs, "he still burns of a fever. Zuko and Sokka, do you think you can carry him to my room?" They both looked at each other and agreed, knowing that Aang weighed a lot more than what he seemed to appear to be. The boys picked up by his arms and placed it around their necks as they dragged his feet to his room. Everyone followed them until they placed him onto the bed, and still wanting to know what was happened to him a few minutes ago. They told the village to go back to sleep as some came out to see what all of the commotion was about, and eagerly went back to their beds. Still unaware of what happened.

Her brother could tell that she was hiding something and wanted to know what it was, but decided to be a good brother to her anyways. "Come on guys, let's give him some room to breath while my sister works her _magic_." Without arguing after Sokka gave them a stern look, they dispersed back into their rooms with more questions that needed answering.

The Warrior was the last leave, but just before he did his hand grabbed her arm just above the elbow. "I know you know what's going on Katara, and you can't keep on protecting him like he's a child. We have the right to know."

His sisters' eyes weld up with moisture in them as she looked to her brother, seeing so much of their Father in his looks now. She saw those protective eyes of his and the firmness of his jaw line, but she had to act like she didn't know. "I'm just as confused as you are Sokka; however, I will try to understand it. When I find something out I will let you know. "

The young man let go of her arm, knowing that she was hiding something and wouldn't give up the information. "It's just I don't want you to get hurt and by the way he acted tonight, he could have easily hurt anyone one of us. I know you love him, but if you even have the slightest inkling of what happened, you _should_ tell us."

She nodded her head, "I'll see what I can do. No guarantees though." Katara spoke and then walked over to his bed side. Meng had brought them a bucket of water with a blue dry rag on the side. She breathed into the water to make ice float into it as she dipped the rag into the freezing water and then placed it on top of his forehead. He shook at the feeling of cold running down his neck like it had a strange effect of him and he started to shake again as before.

"Shhh," she said quietly and took hold of his hand, calming him down. Within a matter of seconds his body was back to being still and allowed her to nurture him back to his old self again.

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang moaned at his sore body as his eyes finally opened up to the same warm room he and Katara had been staying in, with only a few lit candles around him. He felt like he had carried Appa on his back up a mountain and then tried fly with him as well. His head still hurt, but not as bad as he had recalled it. His fever still hadn't gone away, but his body was finally starting to cool down. The Monk blinked a couple of times around him and saw a blanket on top of him that was a little too wet for his taste.

He slowly rose up on his elbows, hurting every time he moved. For some reason his ribs hurt too, but it was an old wound that Ozai gave him when they battled it out. Aang moved the covers off of him like a snail worm and finally placed his feet onto the ground. He grabbed hold of his ribs, "ah…what happened?"

"You tell me, Aang." Katara said in a distant corner against the wall with her arms crossed and not looking at him.

The Monk didn't even know of her presence which was so odd, since he could usually sense her around him somehow. He leaned on his knee, "I—I honestly don't remember…How, how long have I been asleep?"

She looked at him with a stern look of determination now; he looked like hell on that bed. Katara had stripped off his airbending shirt so that he could sweat out whatever was happening in his body. His eyes were dreary of rest, and he could barely hold himself up.

"A few days."

He sensed the annoyance in her voice, "are you mad at me?"

The Waterbender sighed heavily, "to a degree yes, but it was only because I had to lie for you. You know I hate lying to our friends, and especially my brother."

"Wait, lie to them about what? What did I do?" he questioned, trying to recall what had happened a few days ago. He remembered being on the rooftop and talking or arguing with a certain spirit, and then…that was it.

Katara saw the confused look on his face, "you really don't remember, do you?" She asked and pushed herself off of the wall as she walked towards him. The dark skinned girl sat down on the bed a few feet away from him. The shadows of the light around them made him look so sad and alone, but it seemed like the darkness almost suited him in a very strange way.

"You don't remember lying down on the ground, screaming my name out like I was about to be killed? Or the fact that your eyes were completely black and your body felt like fire? The whirl wind? The breaking of Toph's rocks trying to keep you down, the seizure, and tattoos glowing?"

He tried to remember, but every time he did it felt like lightning was shooting into his mind. Aang could remember his past, things he and Katara talked about, when he returned to them, but he couldn't recall what she was talking about. The pain reminded him of when he first found out about Katara's new liking of a different man. He shook his head.

"No I truly don't. Everything you have described to me though, was a battle of my own spirit with Ozai's. I've never had memory blockage before though, this is a different affect on me…did everyone see what happened?"

She nodded, "but Aunt Wu told them that with the stress you had been having of the world and the fact that the Winter Solstice is a few days away that it was very possible that many of the Spirits wished to speak to you. It might have been so overwhelming that it was like getting an overdose of something. They all seemed to buy into her lie, but Sokka didn't."

He breathed out heavily, forgetting his hurt ribs. "Ah!" he breathed out through his teeth, "I feel like I just fought off the whole world."

"Well not the whole world, but you certainly tried." She said with some humor, not wanting to be mad at him anymore. She knew Aang was struggling with his own sweet spirit and she just didn't know what to do to help him. Katara scooted closer, "did Ozai…did, did he—?"

The Air Nomad shook his head, "no—I don't think so. I still feel like I'm okay, but I also feel like a part of me is gone." Katara gave him a half smile then grabbed his hand, and squeezed them tightly. The feeling of her cool hands jogged something in his mind, "Actually, I do recall one thing though."

"Which is?"

"It was like…even though I don't remember anything, it's like I felt your love for me? Is it so strange that that is all I can recall?" he said rubbing his prickly hair and realizing that he needed to shave it off again.

The dark skinned girl shook her head, and quickly wiped a small tear away. "No, no it's not strange at all. It means it worked."

"What worked?"

"Aang when all of those things I described to you, it was like I too could feel your pain to a certain degree. I felt hate stirring in you, hurt, and suffering. I could see that I was losing you and I did the only thing I could to do to perhaps bring you out of it."

He raised up an eyebrow, "what did you do?"

"I kissed you. It seems silly to think it would work, but it was like someone was nudging me to do it. So I did and the next thing I knew, you started calming down and your wounds stopped bleeding. Your grey eyes even appeared and then you passed out."

"Did I say anything before I passed out? Maybe something that could help me?" He questioned, hoping it would help his case.

Katara remembered those words like they were warning to her, and she thought about it constantly. She cross referenced it with her dream and Ozai, but Ozai was in jail and yet his spirit was in Aang. _He will come for you last_. Was the Spirit trying to get back into his own body, or use Aang as a puppet? The Monk could see the worry and doubt in her eyes, and fear started to creep into her face as well.

"You're afraid of me now, aren't you?" He asked with a straight and serious face, not wanting to beat around the bush.

She looked at him for a few seconds before she decided to answer, "my answer is still the same Aang. I'm not afraid of _you_, but of the demon inside of you. Do you still believe that I would give up on you that easily?"

He shrugged, "I don't know what to think anymore. There are days where I do wish that you would keep your distance from me; however, when I think about losing you I can't breathe. It's like I'm being tested on my duties as the Avatar and my love to you."

Katara scooted closer next to him until she was touching his arm, happy to see that his body temperature was cooling down a little bit more. "You know that the way we love each other is what helps you through this. We've seen it happen time and time again, but you need to talk to me. Ever since you found out about Afiko and how he helped slaughter your people, you have been distant, your temper has been shortened, and you're barely eating again."

He snickered, "worst thing about having a girlfriend like you is that you notice everything. It's not fair."

"Please don't change subjects Aang. I've kept my distance from you too, hoping you would eventually come to me. Well, I'm tired of waiting."

Aang sighed, "there is nothing to talk about. It happened a long time ago, and there was obviously nothing I could do about it." He said, and then went back down into his protective bubble. Katara knew this was going to happen, and that maybe he would talk to her if he knew just how much she understood his pain. She didn't want to talk about this issue, but he needed her help. She didn't need to be selfish right now.

"…you know, when Zuko told me about helping me find the man who killed my Mom, I wanted nothing more than revenge. I became this other person that I never knew existed in me, but I didn't care. I remember our trip their on Appa, not sleeping, not wanting to eat either; I just wanted to see him suffer for everything he did to my family, and especially me."

The Airbender had never heard this such details from her story before, and he didn't know what it had to do with him. Zuko told him of their journey what she had intended to do and chose not to go through with it. He was so proud of her for not taking a life for a life, because in the end it would never bring her Mother back.

"Zuko and I stalked him from his home; I watched his every move, knowing just how easily I could take him out permanently. I imagined so many ways to torture him, or just go for the kill, but Zuko told me to be patient and wait for the opportune moment. Being patient with a man like him was not an easy task, I _constantly_ had to strain myself as my memories of the day he killed my Mom continued to flow." She said, hoping this would help Aang. "I never wanted to talk about my Mother to you, because it still hurts me. I know after so many years I should be over it, but there are still days I feel I could've saved her. I recall that day so well Aang. Sokka was nine and I was seven; we were having a snowball fight and I was pretty good at it, probably was because of my Waterbending abilities. Suddenly, we both stopped playing when we saw the soot from the sky."

"Firebenders," Aang said.

She nodded, "yes. My people knew what was coming, but Sokka and I didn't quit understand yet. My Father and his men fought them off, and for some reason I had this strange feeling that I needed to go tell my mom. I told Sokka that I was gonna go find her, and then he went off to help my Father and the other men. I screamed for my Mother, until I came into my home. There before me stood the tallest Firebender that I had ever seen before, and those eyes—they were something that I never forgot. They say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and they were right."

Katara's began to cry a little, and sniffled as she continued. "I could tell something was wrong with my Mom, but I recall her staying strong for me. I told her I was scared, but she asked me to go find my and that she would be fine without me. By the time I told my Dad, we both ran back to our home, to find what was left of my Mother…she had been burned alive. I still remember the smell of her skin, and the snow that was melted around her. It was a sight I would not wish upon for even my greatest of enemies to anyone in that way."

The Monk wiped a tear away with his thumb, and didn't want her to talk about it anymore. "You don't need to tell me anything more. I know you didn't kill Yan Rha and that's all I need to know."

Katara shook her head, "I need you to know Aang. Just this one time, I want you to hear this story because I will never tell it again." Once he understood, she continued again. "I never knew why my Mom died that day; some people called it kindness rather to be taken prisoner for the rest of you life. It was a different kind of kindness from him….finally after Zuko and I got him alone, he gave me the signal and we made our move. Zuko asked if he knew who I was as I took off my disguise, and at first he didn't recognize me, but the harder he looked into my eyes he saw the frightened little girl that I once was. He then told me the story of why he killed my Mom. Before I came into my home, he was interrogating her. Yan Rah said that his spies told him of the last Southern Waterbender, and that he had come for me. My mother denied that acquisition, and that was about the time I came in, and when I left he continued what he was supposed to do. Again he told her that his spies weren't wrong, and that he wouldn't leave until he did his job. Finally, my Mom made a deal with him; she asked that if she told him who it was, would he promise to leave. He agreed, and my Mother told him that it was she who he was looking for and to take her as prisoner. That man told her that he wasn't taking prisoners anymore…"

Aang wrapped his arm around her, feeling every muscle jolt with pain as he did it and ignored them all. "She knew what she was doing Katara. Protecting you and giving you life was far more important than hers. She was so brave Katara, one of two women that I have had the greatest honor to hear of."

The last Southern Waterbender sniffled, wiping away even more tears. "Yeah…it wasn't until then that I realized why my Mom died. It still didn't give him a good enough reason to kill her, and it made me loathe him even more. Yon Rha was lying in the mud with the rain pouring down on top of us; some would say it would have been poetic even if I had gone through with it. I told him that she wasn't the last Waterbender, and that she died protecting me. I remember the look of surprise on his face, when he asked who it was. All of my anger had reached it highest peek when I looked at that pathetic face of his, and yelled _me_! And with everything that I had been taught in waterbending, I made the rain stop around us, and then built a huge dome around us. To a lot of people, it seemed like it would be the hardest thing to do, but to me it was far easier than I expected. I know that my anger of my past, hurt of my family, rage, and the killer instinct in me was the reason I could do it. I was so enraged that I bended the remaining water that was floating into dozens of icicles, some taller than you could possibly imagine. I sent them straight at him, with all of my emotions in every icicle…but I—I couldn't do it. I saw just how pathetic, weak, and empty of a human being he was I just couldn't. Some may say that makes you weak to spare a man's life like his, but I didn't want to become like him. You trusted me, why?"

Aang kissed her on her forehead and bringing her closer to him, "I knew you wouldn't, you just needed to discover the true strength you had within yourself. I had nothing to do with your decision."

She shook her head, "you're wrong. You said that revenge is never the answer and that I must choose for forgive him, but I still haven't. It's not easy to forgive someone who took away a life that you loved so much. But what really stuck with me was the way you put it: _revenge is like a Two-Headed Rat Viper; while you watch your enemy go down, you are being poisoned yourself._ I think that was the first time I ever heard you give me wisdom like that, usually I was the one giving you advice."

The Monk agreed with her, "I was just telling you what I had learned from the Monks before me. You did the rest," he smiled graciously at her as he recalled the day he found out she didn't do it.

"Do you understand why I told you this story though, Aang?"

He nodded, "I think I do…in a way I am acting like you with Yon Rha. Though I never saw Afiko die I still think about it, and in the end I am poisoning myself with these thoughts. And that I should—forgive him?"

"Yes and no. Aang I would be a hypocrite if I told you that you should forgive him so many deaths when I have not done the same, but I still made the choice. I had the opportunity to kill that evil man for what he did to me and my family, and I chose not to kill him. You trusted me enough to know that I wouldn't do that, and now I trust you; as does the whole world. You can still choose to be better than him, and you can still make Monk Gyatso proud."

The Airbender released her from his grasp and put his elbows on his knees as he stared down at the floor. "I don't know if—if I have the strength to do what you did. I _hate_ him, Katara and I still wish I could have been there to see that traitor die. My people suffered because of one jealous man and that one Air Nomad helped give this world 100 years of war and death as I safe in my circle of ice…"

The blue eyed girl reached for his left cheek so that he could look up at her, "I don't know what it is like to lose a whole civilization of your own people, but I do know what it is like to lose loved ones and want nothing more than revenge. You _are_ going to feel pain, hurt, anger, and you will feel remorse; but I know you don't want that life."

Aang closed his eyes, listening to her words as they began to soothe his heart and soul. "My greatest fear is that I will become like him…" he confessed out loud, not even knowing that he had been thinking about it. He opened up her eyes to her sweet features, and saw a smile form.

"You won't," she said with firm and promising tone. "I'll tell you everyday if I have to just how good and wonderful you are, and what you have done for others around you. When I look at you, I do not see the Avatar, but I see a young man who will never give up; even when all darkness surrounds you, you will always find the light. And I will be there to help guide you, but you have to let me. I don't want you to feel alone anymore. You have felt this way for far too long."

The Airbender was very impressed by her words, and sometimes he wondered if she ever had an ancient ancestor who was a Guru. It was so easy for him to be blind and walk around like he had nothing to live for, but Katara knew how to make him see again. It was a special gift she had inherited after her mother passed away; it always seemed to come in handy at the nick of time. He got off of his elbows at sat up just a little bit taller than her, and turned around to face and not caring about his pain. Aang reached up to her necklace and held the small sphere with his two fingers, examining it carefully. It fit so perfect around her neck with the blue lace that made her skin look darker. His eyes followed back up to hers finally and grabbed both of her hand into his.

"I can never thank Kya enough for the sacrifice she made for you, Katara. Without her love for her own children, I would not be who I am today without you. That same love was passed onto you, so that maybe I too can learn what it truly means." He added, as he tried to comprehend just how much destiny wanted them together. Aang was frozen in a block of ice for a hundred years, and if he had not run away he might have been killed. Kya sacrifices herself in order for Katara to become the Waterbender she was supposed to be, and because of her waterbending she found him. So many variables could have happened, but maybe just _maybe_, they were always meant to be.

Katara couldn't help but smile as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips for a few long seconds, "Guru Pathik did say that you shouldn't shut yourself out from love, and to keep that child's heart of yours aflame. I intend to help keep that promise you made to him."

Aang laughed at this and stopped quickly with his pain on the side. "You always seem to remind me of who I am, and what I need to be. I don't deserve you in the least bit."

She shook her head at him, "you're wrong. You do deserve me and I deserve you." Katara declared, and not taking her eyes off of him. She saw that favorite smile of her show on his tired face, reminding her of that twelve year old boy.

The Air Nomad leaned over to her again to taste her moist soft lips, as she too returned the favor over to him. She turned around to face him without moving away from his face, she got her legs underneath herself and sat up taller than him. His kissing was getting better and more addictive everyday. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer into him with a response from her as she started to weigh down on him, until he was lying underneath her while she was hovered over him to make sure that she wouldn't hurt him. She moved her long hair on the left side of her so that it wouldn't interfere with anything.

It had felt like an eternity since they had been alone long enough without getting interrupted, and Aang was going to enjoy it while it lasted. Her cool tongue slipped across his lips and making his mouth open up wider to hers as his tongue caught hers in the cross fire. His hands traveled a little bit past her waist and still stayed above her butt. She pressed her face against him harder, making him breath through his nose. Katara began to bring her body lower and lower until she he started to hurt, but he never made her stop as she laid on top of him now. Aang took a break and kissed down her jaw line, and then slowly down her neck as he sucked on her here and there. He heard her moaning in pleasure as he went past the necklace and lower until he felt cloth under his lips. The Monk slowly traveled back up her neck, making sure to kiss ever spot on her before he reached her chin. Katara couldn't take it anymore; she lowered her chin to find his lips, and started kissing him with passion

Without meaning to the put her hand on the lower part of his hurt ribs "Ah!" he moaned in pain putting his hand there to protect it.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized, and started to kind of freak out a little bit.

Aang hid his pain behind his smile, "it's not as bad as I'm making it." He lied, not wanting to stop or caring about his pain. The Air Nomad would easily let her do it again, no questions asked.

She gave him a smile that drove him crazy while she scanned his upper body, and catching the red and purple colors of his pain on the side. Katara then decided to give their relationship a little bit more of a boost as she started kissing his chest. She felt the nervous boy under her tense up for a brief second, but she continued to stay on his chiseled pecks and then ventured down lower on him. His breathing was increasing and his body started to get hot again. The girl felt his body shiver and goose bumps starting to appear.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head, enjoying her lips on other parts of his skin. Every fiber within him wanted to do the same to her, help take off her clothes and feel the skin that he had never tasted before. It took all of his strength and ability hold it all back against her. She had never done this before and normally he wouldn't allow it, but it felt too electrifying for him to get her to stop. Katara's lips were a mixture of a cloud and a feather; he couldn't decide which one it was if he had to choose. He then felt her going to his hurt ribs and started to caress them; feeling her cool tongue every now and then on his naked surface. In a way it felt like she was healing his wounds and making them disappear into those delicate lips of hers in which he was afraid that the pain would transfer over to her. However, she stayed there on his hurt side for many glorious minutes and every now and again she would find his tickle spot; making his body kind of jerk. The Waterbender opened up her eyes and lifted herself off of him as she moved back over to his face to see a pleased reaction on the young Monk.

"You're apologies are good," Aang hinted as he started to come back out of hypnotic spell that she had put him under.

Katara giggled, "oh there is more where that came from."

He gave her a crooked smile, "seems that I'm always the one with no shirt on, that's not really fair to me."

She raised an eyebrow on his boldness, "would you like the game to be played fair?" Katara asked in a seductive voice, and then started to reach for the knot that held her Warriors outfit together.

Aang laughed and then reached over to stop her from doing it, "you know that I would like nothing more than to kiss your beautiful skin, but I'm still not ready to go to that extreme as _much_ as I want to."

The dark skinned girl sighed, "you want to talk about fair? What you did right there wasn't fair at all. You're making me seem like I'm the villain, while you're the pure one. I should have better self-control than this."

He held back his laugh, but instead gave her a small smirk. "Maybe you just don't understand how hard this is for me to."

Katara rolled off of him on the left side, and hoisted her head up with her hand. "Do tell."

Aang looked over at her, "though I am two years younger than you I am still a guy. Everything that you are struggling with is ten times worse for me. I would like nothing more than to stay in this bed with you and give you all of the pleasures in the world, but I deny it because…" he stopped, not sure if he should really reveal just how scared he was or if he would be any good at it either. And that he was old fashioned too; marrying a girl and then the rest would come.

"Because?" she implied back his last word, wanting to understand him.

"You're like a forbidden fruit to me."

Now her curiosity grew even more, "is this a bad thing for you?"

His lips curled a little bit, "it's more like temptation for me. I take one bite of your sweetness, and eventually I am going to want so much _more_. Not that that is a bad thing," he proclaimed "but it is certainly hard for me to resist when I have someone like you."

"Someone like me who throws herself on top of you like that," she finished the sentence for him with the blue devils showing in her tone. Aang lay down sideways on his hurt bones so that he could have a better look at her, but it took him a few struggling seconds as he tried to control his breathing.

Once he was in the right position he took her hand into his and said, "no, that wasn't what I was going to say at all. Katara ever since I met you, you have been my weakness. You are _so_ gorgeous, and there are days when I wonder if the Spirits took the light in your eyes and put them into the night sky as stars for everyone to see. And when I look at your lips I question if red flowers are afraid to bloom when they see you in their presence. But I also love that even though you are the most stunning Waterbender I have ever laid eyes on, you know how to take care of yourself and others. You tend to put others before you, and you always know how to calm me down and make me the happiest guy in the world. I love our small moments, as well as what we are having right now."

Katara couldn't help herself from smiling the whole time as his words became like air to her, breathing in and out the love he had for her. "Do you ever wonder why it took me so long to finally see you for who you really are?"

Aang smirked, "sometimes. But I know I was a very immature little boy in her eyes, and I knew if I was going to have you I was going to have to win you over. No matter the cost."

"Was it ever hard for you to see me interested in other guys?"

He nodded, "yes. I wanted you all to myself and then again I needed to let you find me. Even if it meant for you to go through a thousand other guys, as hard as it may be for me; however, I was willing to wait for you…even in the next life I would still wait." The Monk said and realizing that the Spirit of women who was helping him was right. She was worth fighting for, and he could see that he had become very selfish indeed. The Spirit reminded him of his promise; to never stop trying and that he would find a way no matter the strength it would take him.

Katara scooted closer to him as she reached out to his face and gave him a sweet tender kiss, "why do I feel like everyday you are always trying to win my heart when you already have it?"

"Old habits die hard I guess. For almost a year I tried to do things that would impress you, make you see me differently, and then there was having to wait for my growth spurt to happen."

The blue eyed girl laughed, "I love you so much, Aang. Never forget that. Even when you feel like all hope is lost, you _remember_ us. Remember everything that you, I, and all of our friends have sacrificed."

The Airbender looked at her strangely, like she was giving him a declaration. He yawned before he spoke, "I will. I promise."

The dark skinned nodded and gave him another peck on the lips, "you should sleep. We are at least a few days ride to Jets hideout. We plan to leave tomorrow and heading southeast, think you are up for the challenge?"

He rolled back onto his shoulders as the name "Jet" rang in his head and his emotions started to flare up. "I'm sure I will be. Has he been any sort of a problem?"

"Surprisingly, no? That calm man that Aunt Wu has has been watching him carefully. I don't think he can sneeze without him being there."

Aang's eye lids started to get heavier, "maybe he should come along with us."

They both laughed, "actually I don't think I even know his name. I don't ever remember him giving us one?" Katara said, trying to think back three years ago and just a few days ago as well.

"Maybe he's just too sleepy to tell us. . ." he passed back into a deep sleep, not realizing that his sentence made absolutely no sense to the answer Katara was seeking. She sighed with a genuine smile and moved herself closer to him with her chin resting up his strong shoulders. She looked over at the Panda Lily he had left for her and held that smile as she closed her eyes. His breathing was calm and soothing to her as she too drifted into a sleeping pattern until they started breathing simultaneously.

OooooOooooOoooo

The next day, everyone began packing up their things; saying goodbye to the small village and Aunt Wu as well. They all seemed a little bit disappointed that they were leaving, because they didn't get to many visitors anymore. Sokka kept his distance from the Fortuneteller, but decided to say one thing to her anyways.

"Someday you are going to screw up, and I hope to be the one to say _I told you so_."

The older women smiled, "whatever you say troubled Sokka. I don't see much else changing in that struggle and anguish you will have for the rest of your life."

His face started to turn red, "I will be calm and my life will be happy!" he said, and kicked a rock to a flock of turkey ducks, and then they all started to attack him. He ran everywhere with them biting at his arms, legs, and butt. "This still doesn't count!" he said breathlessly while he continued to run around in circles and side to side.

Aunt Wu laughed, and then became serious when she looked at Aang. He looked much healthier than last night, but his journey was going to be that much more difficult. She knew he would make the right choice in his pathway, and hoped that his friends would help him with all of the struggles he has and will possess.

Aang walked up to her, giving her a small smile and bowed to her. "Thank you for your hospitality Aunt Wu, and for helping me. You didn't do anything wrong when you told me of my fate, I just didn't want to hear it out loud I suppose. It was wrong of me to take my anger out on you and for that I am truly sorry. I hope you will forgive me."

"There is no need for apologizing young Airbender, I just wish I could have given you more," she said.

"I think you did in more ways than you can imagine. Thank you again," he said and pulled out a Panda Lily that was surprisingly not dead yet, and handed it to her. "I figured it was time for someone to give you something back in return for once."

Aunt Wu smiled at him, "keep that child's heart aflame Avatar and continue to be connected to love." And with that she turned and walked back into her home and giving him a wink before she disappeared.

Aang was astonished by her words; the exact same words that Guru Pathik and Katara said to him, and he hoped he would listen better. He said goodbye to Meng, happy to see that she had found a guy with big ears. Though they didn't get to talk, he was just glad that she found someone else to crush on besides him. After saying their farewells one last time before they departed, they were ready to go back to traveling again. According to Sokka, they needed to head back south since they had to take a little detour to Aunt Wu. He was still complaining about the bite marks he got from those turkey ducks, but he was going to let that change his mood now that they were going to leave this "retched" place.

"Wait!" a small boy of maybe five and had long brown hair as he ran with a certain Hawk in a cage.

They all looked at him, but no one was madder than Sokka. He jumped off of Appa, "why did you put him in a cage? He won't even leave unless you tell him too!"

The kid felt bad, "it wasn't my fault that your pet bird started destroying my Dads store after a messenger gave it to us. We put him in the cage to make sure he wouldn't keep messing with our stuff."

"Give me that!" Sokka snatched out of his hand and walked away very fast, "Its owkay wittle Hawky." He said like a new born trying to speak, "did you not like the bad man? Hmm?"

They rolled their eyes at him as he opened up the cage and Hawky jumped onto his forearm. He took the messages out from its compartment and hand one to Zuko, and the other to Katara.

Aang looked at the little boy from up on Appa's head, "how did you know where to find us?"

He shrugged, "word travels fast I suppose?" The Monk nodded towards him and tossed him a silver and gold piece for his trouble. He thanked him and then started running home, wherever that was. This confused Aang a little, knowing that if others knew of his whereabouts, then why hadn't the Death Stalkers come out yet?

"_What are they waiting for?"_ he thought in his mind, hoping that his presence alone would have flushed them out by now. He put his thoughts away and looked at Zuko as he read the letter from his Uncle.

He sighed, "my Uncle says that there have been more kidnapping in the Fire Nation since I left. Ozai and Azula are still in prison luckily, and he tells me that after all of the research they have not found anything on the Death Stalkers. The White Lotus have gone back to their homes to try and protect their people as well as others, while Uncle Iroh still tends to hold the fort down of our home. They still haven't caught anymore of these Rebels, but he is trying very hard to do so. He doesn't have too much good news for us, and pursues us to continue on our journey with haste. Iroh believes that they need me back…"

"Is that what you want?" Aang questioned, understanding if he needed to. If the Airbenders were still alive, and they needed him he would follow their orders with speed and wind behind him.

The Fire Lord rolled the letter back up, "a part of me really wants to, but in a way I feel like I am doing more right now then I would be sitting at a Palace watching more of people getting abducted. He is right though, we need to hurry and find these rebels. A war is coming, and I need to prepare for it if necessary."

They all nodded at his wish, even Mai seemed to sympathize with him as she took hold of his arm and moved very close to him. "And there is one more thing too…"

"What is it?" Sokka asked to Zuko who now had a sad face.

He breathed out a heavy sigh, "it seems that King Bumi is sick." Zuko said with his eyes instantly going to Aang, while the others followed. Happy that Jet wasn't here just yet to make things worse.

The Monks face was blank as his emotions started to take toll of him, and the memories of his beloved old friend that had become ill now. "Do they know what the reason is?" he asked in a quiet tone, barely able to hear and yet they all knew the question and answer he wanted.

"My best Specialists say that his heart is weakening even though he is as fit as any of us, but it's just old age. Nothing that they can really do about it. "

Aang took a moment to think about the world being a darker place without King Bumi there by his side as a companion and a warrior. "How long?"

Zuko shook his head, "don't really know. It could be days, weeks, or even a few more months. But they said that he is refusing to believe in it."

This made the Airbender smiled a little, "sound like Bumi."

"Are you okay?" Katara asked.

He nodded, "how long was that letter that your Uncle sent?"

Zuko looked at the date on the outside, "about three weeks old."

"Why did it take so long to get here?"

"We move from place to place too much, we stay only a few days and leave." Toph said, "even I would've had a tough time finding us. It's a miracle they found us first."

Aang looked at all of their faces and saw Jet coming out from the back of the corner where they had last seen him disappear. "Would you guys mind if we head that way after we find Jet's hideout…it would mean a lot to me."

Zuko agreed with him, "of course we will. You shouldn't even have to ask for that privilege of seeing an old friend."

Aang thanked him and then jumped off of Appa to take the ropes of Jet in his hands, "thank you for looking out for him, Mister…?" he left blank, hoping that they could get his name.

But he just bowed to him, "safe journey." And just like that he turned his back to them and went back inside the home with Aunt Wu.

Jet breathed in the air around him as if he had never tasted the sweet cool air before, "feels so good to be out of that room. Heard something frightful happened a few days ago…care to explain?"

The bold Monk rolled it off, "nothing that concerns you I can promise you that."

He shrugged like he didn't care, "we will see."

Aang pulled on his rope and guided him up Appa's tail, handing the ropes over to Suki to do her thing. The Airbender flipped over the Gang to land on his Bison's head with his legs spread out comfortably.

Once Jet was fastened tightly and feeling a bit uncomfortable, his eyes darted to a letter that was hidden amongst Katara's stuff. "Whose Higen? Your secret boyfriend, aside from Aang?"

The Monk had completely forgotten about the letter that she had received. He had hoped it was from her father and not _him_. Her eyes went wide at Aang, but he quickly turned around. Jet smiled at his reaction, loving and enjoying his torture. The Death Stalkers had trained him well in manipulating people and it came in handy a lot for him.

"Yip, yip!" he tussled with Appa's reins on his horns, letting him know they were ready. Momo had just landed on his shoulder with a leachy nut in his mouth.

The Gang had been flying for a couple of hours by themselves with Appa to guide them while Teo and Aang used their gliders to fly and avoid the heavier weight. It seemed that no matter how far they traveled the skies were still pretty dark and cloudy, and he wasn't too sure if or when it was going to rain. Still he enjoyed the coolness of the clouds touching him, it was as if his tides to the Earth no longer mattered and he could be whoever he wanted to be. But that luxury in his life would never happen.

The Monk looked over at Teo and realized that he had never seen him smiling so much before, and he knew only a girl could have that kind of effect on a guy. He didn't need to a Fortuneteller to know that those two were together now, but were keeping it low key; Aang understood why. When you have girls like Katara and Suki who aren't anything like Toph or Mai, things are always hectic and it could drive someone like Toph insane. Katara told him once that Toph had asked for her advice with Teo and that she was ready for something to blossom between them, but doubt of her own beauty seemed to cloud her judgment on whether or not the Mechanic liked her; however, they all knew it was only a matter of time. It's too hard not to be with someone you like when you are with them every second of the day. Without those small moments with Katara he believed that he would have never had her in the first place.

Sokka opened up the map again viewing Gaipan, the small town that he helped save Jet from flooding with civilians and Firebenders in them. Jet had the right idea of destroying those men who killed his Mom and Jet's home town with his parents, but he didn't care about the civilians. If Jet had taken them into consideration, then he would have been happy to help the crazy swordsman. The Water Tribe Warrior felt very proud of himself that day when everyone, including Katara and Aang were against his better judgment, he still did the right thing. Sometimes instincts can help you make rash decisions, while other times they don't.

Jet looked over at him and saw a small grin form on his face, "still feel pretty good about saving all of those people, Sokka?"

The young man looked from underneath his eye lashes while starting to roll up the map, "I do. I helped save the lives that you wanted to destroy at all cost."

He grunted, "everyone dies Sokka. The only thing you did was put a delay on it."

"Wow," Toph said, "those Death Stalkers really did a number on you didn't they 'metal face'?"

He looked over at the blind girl, "no more than being born with no sight."

If it hadn't been for them flying in the air she would have pummeled him in the snap of a finger, but he was lucky this time. She wasn't too good about forgiving and forgetting stuff like that. "What goes around comes around for people like you then."

Katara looked back at all of them from Appa's head with the reins in her hands, "that's enough guys. Can we please at least _try_ to get along?"

They all looked at each other and at Jet, "no!"

She sighed with irritation in her throat, "why did I even bother to ask."

The Traitor looked around at everyone; Sokka and Suki were talking amongst themselves with that stupid messenger Hawk at his side, Toph hanging onto the Bison's saddle, Zuko was writing back to his Uncle that sent him the letter and the odd girl next to the scarred up face guy who was just looking out into the world. As he looked around at all of them once again, saving Katara's back for last, he realized that he truly hated himself. The Swordsman was messed up in the beginning, but now it seemed like there was nothing left of the old Jet. With the Waterbender there to try and help his mind, things were becoming a little bit clearer to him; however, he would still remain loyal to _them_.

He had a job to do and he knew it was going to take time, in which his Superiors understood, but it seemed that no matter how hard he might try he could never earn their trust; even if he wasn't an evil fool. His Masters wanted Aang, for what reasons he did not know.

_Jet stood tall and proud in front of his Superior with his arms behind his back and at ease. He had come a long way from just a regular swordsman to a full blown out Assassin, and one of the best they had ever seen. The man in the shadows poured him a red liquid drink that he had never seen before; it seemed that no matter which angle Jet tried to see him the shadows seemed to always cover his face. He was a short man, and skinnier than he would have imagined. This was the first glimpse he ever had of him, usually he would have gotten a letter with the same tattoo symbol on his back with instructions of who to capture or kill next. By the way he described _everything_ with so much details, the Assassin figured he would be…different. The shadowed figure poured himself another glass, taking a sip first before he gave it to him. His hands were small and thin, almost like a—"_

"_I hope you are a man of many drinks," the womanly voice said as she handed him the glass. It was a very pleasant voice and she sounded surprisingly attractive to. Jet was already profiling her; height of 5'6, age of a young woman who older than him, and anyone could tell she had an evil yet commanding voice. _

"_With your line of duty I am surprised you do not enjoy the simplest of pleasures."_

_Jet took the glass with a surprised look on his face, "you are the one who has been giving me my assignments?"_

_He heard a sneer from her throat, "by the look on your face I can tell that you were shocked to find that I am a _woman_. I may be the person who orders you to kill, but everyone has someone else above them to answer to."_

"_So you are the messenger pretty much?"_

_She took another drink, "we are all only messengers. And you are the one who brings the bodies back to us, a win-win situation I think."_

_The lady sat in the chair to the right of him and propped her feet up on the table, while she waited for him to join her. "Take it easy Jet; please join me for a drink."_

_He looked around himself to make sure there wasn't a trap involved; it was one of the many things he had learned. Things are not always as they seem. There were guards watching his every move; a Water and Firebender stood tall._

"_You know that from where I am from, if you do not sit when asked it is considered rude. So please, my Guards are just here to make sure our business deal goes well. My Commanding Officer wanted me to talk to you in private so to speak."_

_He looked around again trying to debate on whether or not she was telling the truth, but he finally caved in and sat across from her in the small table. Jet took a drink, at first it was tingly and then it burned his throat like he just drank acid. To him it was his kind of liquid to drink especially after a kill. _

"_You like?" she asked._

_Jet took another gulp, "I enjoy many pleasures, and the drink is just one of them."_

_The shadowed figure nodded, "good to know. And now onto business. Do you know why we have asked you to come?"_

"_I am sure I have a good idea—who do I need to kill this time, or capture if you prefer."_

_The woman put her feet down and placed her elbows on the table, but not enough to see her face still. "We want the Avatar. Alive."_

_Jet looked around again and then back at her, he began to chuckle. "Haha! Everyone around here wants a chance at the Avatar, but they want him _dead_."_

"_There is no point; he will just be reborn again anyways. No, we want him to join us."_

_The young man gulped down the last bit of the drink, feeling his heart stop and speed up again. "Look if this is some kind of a joke then I agree that it is funny, but you very much well know that he would never join you."_

_She smiled to herself, "every man has a weakness. Yours was your families when we broke you, and for him it will be his friends and loved ones."_

_Jet leaned over the table, "Aang is a fighter. He would never ever switch sides, no matter what. I think you have the wrong man for this job, try Mo he is actually better than I."_

_This time she leaned over closer to him so that he could see her face. Her nose was perfect, eyes that were two different colors; gold and brown. She was very thin to what he normally liked in women, but then again his taste would change just about every night. However, she did have a scar that went from the corner of her eye and across her face until it reached her farthest of where her jaw line. Her hair was cut so short that some people would mistaken her for a man, but it seemed to form her face very well. In a way she was beautiful to him. Nothing like Katara though, in which he would always imagine it was her when he was with another women. She was dressed in complete black colors, and her clothing was so tight that he couldn't keep his eyes off of her chest as she breathed._

"_I know he is better than you, but we are recruiting you because you have a history with all of them."_

_He gave her a crooked smile under his medal piece, "it isn't that simple. They will never trust me that I can _guarantee_ you."_

_She mimicked his grin that she could see from his right eye, "do not worry about that Jet. We have a plan; once they trust you you will bring them all here. Do you think you can handle that?"_

_He sighed, "lying about who I am, manipulating them to believe that I am a good guy, and most importantly earn their trust… It will take time, but with your help I am sure it can be handled with care. Katara is the key to the Gang; once we have her the others will do the same, but Aang will be tough. I'll need time with him."_

"_I assume you have a plan?"_

"_Not a great plan, but if we can get Aang sick and I can lie to them about having the same symptom and help them find the cure. It would be something like that._

_She nodded in agreement while she had to come up with a plan to make him the hero in their time of need. "Alright then. And Jet…I need to know that if they get in your way that you won't hesitate to kill any of them. Really all we need is the girl, but it would be even better if they all remained alive."_

"_I have learned that if you hesitate, you die. Does that answer your question?_

"_Very much so. And in exchange we will give you what you have always wanted."_

"_Which is?" _

_Her crooked smile formed into a full one now that reminded him of scary demon, and then she stood up. Jet stood up too, "Leverage is all we have against you, hell it's the only thing that has been keeping you here hasn't it?"_

"_You know the location of the Rough Rhino's?" he asked urgently, recalling the day they killed and burned his family._

"_We do Jet. And after your duties we will allow you to leave to do your biding, and then you must come back. But you already knew that didn't you?"_

_Jet nodded, "I know you can never truly be free. There is always a string attached to everything."_

_The woman agreed with him, "repeat back to me what is your mission then."_

"_To seek out, gain their trust, and bring them all back alive _if_ possible."_

"_Again." She said, and he repeated. The young lady said it three more times and three more times he repeated it back. "And just because you can't see us, know we are _always_ watching you. We have been following the Avatar for a long time now, I'd hate for that to change with a spy amongst them."_

"_You don't need to worry about me; I know what I need to do."_

"_Good. We will put you in a small town where we believe they will eventually head to. My army will consume the village and take what we need, and you will be left behind. As for the details of how you were kidnapped, I will leave that up to you. From what I have heard you are the best liar."_

"_I was trained to be the best, and I want nothing more."_

"_So you admit that you are a good liar?"_

_Jet nodded, "very much so."_

_She nodded and slowly started walking towards him, until she was between him and the small table. She signaled the guards to leave, letting them know that there was nothing left to discuss in the matter. Once they bowed and left, they were the only tow remaining. The woman sat on top of it, "do you find me desirable in the least bit?"_

_He gulped down his saliva as he tried to think before he spoke, it could be a life or death with just one word. "In many ways, yes."_

_Her eyes showed a pleased emotion as they began to scan him down to his waist and then back up to his face. She reached one leg out to him, and brought the other one around and brought him right up against her. "That was a test to see if you would lie."_

"_How do you know it wasn't?" he presumed, not wanting her to see that he did indeed; especially when she had him the way she did. _

_She studied him for a bit and then nudged it off of her shoulders. "Tell me Jet, how long has it been since someone has shown you a good time?" _

_Jet couldn't take his eyes off of her now and lied, "not long in the least bit."_

_The woman showed a gleam of satisfaction, as her hands went to his shirt and began taking it off. He did not move as her hands began smoothing over his chest and then her lips came along too. Jet felt her warm tongue grazing against his skin, and he legs tightening even more around him. And then her hands traveled down to his pants, and started undoing them as she began sucking on his neck so much that he thought he was going to bleed. Jet couldn't take it anymore as he reached out for her, but she caught his hand to let him know _she_ was off limits. She had taken everything off of him and he did as he was told to do. She loosened her legs around him and then got up from the table while she made him lean against the table. Again she started to kiss down his body, down to his abdominals, to his hips where she lingered forever as her tongue went back and forth to the sides of his hips. Jet wanted her to go lower, but she came back up to his chest. The woman started to undress herself, first with the top in a seducing way in which he was already in that mode and then she finally took off her pants. He felt himself smile underneath his metal sheath as she walked closer to him until they were touching skin, and enjoying the small pleasures of life that had been offered them both._

He thought back to the conversation before his mind went wild at how rough she got with him and was one of the best thrills he had in a long time with a girl. Jet then thought about how the Monk would never join them. No matter how much they tortured him or threatened his life he would never cave in. But just as the woman with no name had said before, everyone knew his weakness; his friends and the love for Katara that he treasured more than his own life. They weren't ready to exploit that just yet, instead needed information about him first. Whatever happened a few nights ago, he believed that this was a sign that they had been waiting for. And in return for bringing Aang to them, he would at long last have his reward and revenge would be his ally. "Love and friendship makes a man weak" they once brainwashed into his mind, and that only "obedience and loyalty are the only things you would ever need to survive." Jet _followed_ that so blindly that if he ever had Katara in his life and they asked of her death, he would not hesitate to take her down.

He looked back up at Katara in her Water Tribe outfit; her hair half up and long as if flowed with the wind in her face, and just how beautiful she was even from this angle alone. And now he wasn't too sure if he would truly ever kill her or runaway in order to protect her.

Something hard and yet soft hit him on the side of his face, knocking him out of his own thoughts. He looked down and saw a piece of bread that had been rolled into a ball with some cheese in the middle of it. When he looked up Sokka he was giving him a dirty look "don't even think about it". Jet gave a devilish crooked smile and then picked up the ball of food with much strain pulling on his other arm thanks to Suki's rope tying, but he happy to take a bit out of the bread and cheese. It wasn't all that torturous to him; his Mentors did worse to him and this only seemed like child's play to him. Then again they were not the torturing type of people.

Katara looked up at Aang, and saw a smile forming onto his face as he closed his eyes. She loved to watch him soar through the sky like gravity that had no effect on him, with his second nature; just as water was to her. However, she worried about him constantly now, and the feeling of something bad was going to happen to him which didn't seem to fade away either. She knew that Ozai's Spirit was trying break past him so he could take over as the Avatar and that did scare her, but it felt like there was so much more than what Aang wanted her to know. Everyday he would look at her like it was the last time he would ever see her again, and even at times he kept his distance from her as if he was ready to do something to her. The Waterbender didn't want to press him, because it seemed like when she did something would come up and they would have to go somewhere else, and he always seemed relieved of the distraction.

For some reason she got a feeling of someone's eyes daggering into her back, and it was in a creepy way. She slowly turned and looked to find Jet looking at her under his long shaggy brown hair. "What?"

Jet shrugged and looked to his right, "nothing. Absolutely nothing."

She scoffed at him as she rolled her eyes and looked forward again, with nothing but clouds underneath them.

After a few more hours the Gang landed, and decided to walk some of the way before they made camp. They did their normal routines of scouting out the place, and brought back some twigs and limbs for a small fire to start. Tonight Katara made just plain rice, simple and easy for her. Her friends didn't complain as they ate what they were given, and then she picked up a bowl and walked over to Jet. He was in the same position as Suki put him in before; he seemed _very_ uncomfortable with his legs wrapped around a tree like that. She handed him the bowl in which he took with thanks, hearing his stomach rumble. He took off his sheath and ate very quickly, with three quarters left of the meal before he had to put it back on with the thirty seconds gone.

As she looked at him only pity seemed to dawn on him, "did it hurt?"

He knew what she meant and nodded, "like hell."

"Do you really wish you had died that day in Ba Sing Se?" She questioned, not sure why now she had become so interested. Maybe she was just tired of him and Aang fighting neck and neck at each other over her.

Jet nodded, "sometimes. It seems that my life would perhaps be better, but then again I was able to see you again. Even if I am tied to a tree in a manner of speaking," he realized that there were no ropes tied onto him.

Katara clenched her jaw, "Jet I've told you already that I love Aang."

"Feelings can change," he said in a sweet voice that she never knew he had.

She sighed heavily, "no they won't, ever. When I am around Aang it feels like he completes me in everyway possible. Every other guy I have met through out my life, including you, has _never_ had that effect on me."

He kind of laughed, "well he was around you everyday for almost a year. I know you liked me when we first met; I got that vibe pretty quickly. Don't you remember?"

The Waterbender crossed her arms, "I'll admit that I did, but Jet you died that day when I left you frozen on that tree. After that I didn't want to be with anyone else, because of what you did; you lied and manipulated Aang and I to do your bidding. You hurt me on so many levels that there were days I took it out on him, and for the longest of time I never gave Aang a chance. But when I did, I found the missing piece of my life. He is everything I want and need, and you can never have me Jet. Not in this life or the next."

Jet looked up at her with the small breeze blowing her long luscious brown hair, knowing that he still wasn't going to give up. "Thanks for the rice," he managed to say and went back to eating.

She gave him a thin lined fake smile before she turned and left him to eat. The Gang had turned in early that night with Sokka telling them that they need to get up pretty early if they wanted to get there any quicker. They all apparently agreed to wake up barely after sunrise while she had been talking to Jet. Katara put the fire out with the water from the air and headed into her tent. She smiled when she walked in with Aang shirtless asleep on his side, seeming to be knocked out cold. He had already placed her sleeping bag next to him while he slept on the grass with a peaceful look on his face. Katara took off her boots quietly and got under her sleeping bag. Once she was settled in she placed a hand on his shoulder and he quickly lay down on his back. The dark skinned girl put her head on his chest while his right arm wrap above her waist. She saw a smile curl for a second and then he was back to sleeping, as she too began to close her eyes and dream of them together.

OooooOooooOoooo

It took another two days before the four of them recognized the area of where they had met Jet. The Village was just to the east of them in which Aang was happy to see that the dam was rebuilt again and that people were living there. They all jumped off of the flying bison and started again on foot.

"We'll call you if we need you to bust down some trees, okay boy." Aang said to Appa, both understanding each other in every way. He roared a little and took of flying back into the air, trying to find the last spot of trees where he rested on.

The Gang walked the dirt road of the giant trees above them, seeing the leaves changing colors and that a pile started to form on the roads. It seemed like their hiding spot would be noticeable, but they were up so high that no one would want to search for them. They all slowed down a little as they tried to find the spot, but it seemed that they couldn't; however, Sokka knew they were being watched. When Jet took him on one of their "missions" he had learned that they would communicate by sounding like a certain bird, a thing in which he had not gotten the hang of yet. Zuko was holding onto the ropes of Jet with Mai by his side as always.

Aang stopped and looked up, and getting a strange feeling that many eyes were gazing at them. He bent down to the ground and placed his hand on it, and followed up the roots of the trees trying to find movement. Just as he did Toph stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a sword come out of its sheath and the sound of a an arrow being pulled back on the bow with a release of it. Toph and Aang simultaneously formed a wall around all of them, hearing a few dozen arrows hit the stone and bounce off of it. Then came the sound of "woohoo" and "charge".

They both released the ground and got prepared to fight with the Gang pulling out all of their bending abilities and weapons while Aang had his staff ready to fight back. But the four of them knew it was just protocol to see what they could do, by the sound of the shots to the stones they were aiming low enough not to hurt them. The Gang was surrounded by about two dozen kids, both tall and short. They all looked around and could see their raggedy clothes barely hanging on, but they seemed to be doing all right none the less.

Then they heard a voice they could never forget, "Aang?"

He turned to the side and recognized a familiar face, "Pipsqueak?"

A huge grin formed on his face as he put away his huge wood club and went over to the Monk and picked him up by a big bear hug. "It's so good to see you again man! You've grown too!"

"Can't—breathe—!" he barely got out.

"Oh," he said and released him. "Sorry, but I never thought I'd see the Avatar in these parts of the wood again. What are you doing on this side of the Earth Kingdom?"

But before he could answer he heard yet another familiar small voice say, "Jet?"

He turned around and saw The Duke there with wide eyes; he too had grown up a little. He looked to be about eleven or ten with the same look; still had on his helmet that seemed to fit better than last time, and even his small cape was still on his back. The rest of his friends looked at the man in ropes and seemed to be in complete shock as they began whispering amongst each other.

Aang intervened, "Pipsqueak I wasn't too sure if any of you guys would be back here?"

"Yeah, well after you disappeared me and The Duke came back anyways just for old times sake. When we did, we found out that some of the kids still lived here. They had no where else to go so they stayed here leaderless."

"So who is in command?" Katara asked.

"Actually The Duke and I are. We've been trying to help those in need, but always getting there too late." He said, letting the others know to lower their weapons to the friendly.

Aang knew what he was talking about, and when he looked around he saw spooked faces of his own fighters. "Do you guys mind if we stay for a few days and talk, seems we might need your help with something."

He looked at The Duke, who nodded in agreement. "Sure, seems like we have a _lot_ of catching up to do. Just grab a rope and we'll see you up there." He twisted his arm in the air with his index finger up, and they all dispersed back up the trees.

Jet couldn't believe that they were all still here, except for Longshot and Smellerbee. They were the last ones he saw before he became what he is now, and would have loved to have seen his old friends again…even if it was for just a few minutes.

Toph used her Earthbending and brought both Teo and her up together, lucky enough not to break any tree limbs along the way. Zuko and Mai went up together by rope as did Sokka and Suki. Katara was next, leaving behind Jet, Aang, and Pipsqueak.

"You want me to carry him up for you?" he asked Aang, who was eyeing the man with much hurt in them, recalling his old friend who now looked nothing like the one who once led them.

"If you wish to, I would greatly appreciate it," Aang spoke and understanding his reaction to Jet. The big guy tossed him over his shoulder like he was a rag doll and then grabbed onto the rope. Even with the extra weight they lifted and disappeared just as quickly as the day they first came here. Now it was his turn as it came back down for him, reaching for it and then got a strange feeling of a cold shiver running up his spine. He spun around thinking that someone else was behind him for some reason; there was nothing but the wind blowing leafs around his feet. His eyes wondered off above him to the other trees, feeling like someone was shadowing him. For a long time he had ignored it thinking it was just something he would get on cold nights, but it only seemed like it was getting worse. He scanned the tree lines and ground one last time before he turned his back on strange feeling. Instead of taking the rope he started hoping up onto the tree limbs until he reached the very top of where they first learned of Jets hideout.

Katara was waiting for him, "what took you?"

Aang hated it when she knew he was doing something, "just had a strange feeling, and took another look before I came."

"Everything okay?"

He smiled, "I hope so."

"Come on you two," Pipsqueak said. "We can talk in our cabin."

Before they followed, Aang took the ropes of Jet. "You guys can go look around for a little bit while I talk with him. Katara can show you where everything is." She suddenly eyed him with a look that said "I am coming with you". But Aang needed to talk to them alone, as well as let them know about Jet.

"Please Katara, just for a little while."

She breathed the air out of her lungs, "fine." And together they walked around meeting some of the new recruits that they hadn't seen before. Aang and Jet walked into the cabin where in front of them they both sat. He could see their curious looks on their face of not only why they were here, but also why Jet looked the way he did. The cabin seemed a perfect size for the two of them; in the far right corner was a hammock that hung pretty low and to the left at the door was bed made out of hay with a couple of blankets on top of it. To most people it wouldn't be much of a home, but to Aang they at least had one.

"Please," the giant man said to him in allowing them all to sit. Now that the Monk was taller, he always thought he would he was a very tall man and yet he really wasn't. Both of the travelers sat across from them, ready for whatever they asked.

The Traitor looked at his two oldest Freedom Fighters that once were so loyal to him and now looked at him with betrayal and fear. Most of the time he liked people being afraid of him; however, he didn't like it with his oldest companions. They had grown up together for some years and now it seemed like it never truly happened.

"What are you doing in these parts of the woods Aang?" The Duke asked, and seeing that he had become very confident in himself since he last saw him.

"We have one particular reasoning," the Airbender said looking at the man tied in ropes. "But we are also wondering if there have been a lot of foreign travelers lately?"

"Such as?" Pipsqueak questioned.

"Lots of nations together, and of many ages. Mostly young to teenagers and some adults."

The two leaders looked at each other, and then The Duke went to go find the map of the time they followed them all. He handed it over to Aang to see, and even letting Jet too. Hoping it was going to jog his memory a bit. There were three circled spots that formed into a triangle, perhaps guessing their hiding spots.

"How long ago did you follow them?"

The Duke pointed it all out to them, starting with the top one. "This one was about a year ago, and this to the right was maybe a couple of months ago, and this left one here is a few days old. But we haven't seen them again, it was like they just vanished into the shadows and never seen again."

The Avatars eyes continued to scan the map and memorizing it all, wondering why they kept coming back here. He knew there was probably no point in looking especially if Pipsqueak and The Duke already did. Still, it might be worth looking into.

"Do you remember anything? Was it an army? Did you see the leader?" Aang asked too quickly for them to answer.

"No," the tall man said. "It seemed that they were all caged, and we did attack. A lot of our friends were killed, and not one of theirs fell. We thought we were shooting at ghost until we followed their tracks, and then there was nothing. We don't even know what we are dealing with."

"They are called Death Stalkers; it seems that no one has heard of them either, except for one escaped man," the Monk said turning his eyes towards Jet that were followed by his old friends as well.

"Wait," the youngest of them said, "you're telling us that Jet was with them?"

"He told us that he escaped from them and that some Earthbenders got a hold of him for a while. We found him on our journey."

"Jet…is this true?" The Duke asked and anyone could see the moisture filling in his eyes. The man he looked up to, no matter how many times they seemed to say bad stuff he would always defend him.

The half man looked at the young leader and for the first time he felt something he hadn't in a long time—regret and shame. Even after the hundreds of men and women he slaughtered he never once felt any remorse behind it, but when a friend looked at him that way it felt so wrong.

The Duke stood up, "I defended you! I told everyone that you were a good guy and that no matter what you would never do the wrong thing again! But you did anyways, you betrayed us all. How many of us did you give away or kill Jet?"

This was the first time Aang had ever seen him not retaliate back at someone; it seemed that for once he didn't know what to say. Perhaps this was the perfect place to get Jet to open his mind up a little bit more to them. The Traitor tried to find the answers, but he just looked down at his feet; defeated. The young leader walked out of the room, not wanting to see his face again. Jet had not only ruined a friendship, he lost everything that he truly forgotten that made him who he was. His companion went after him and leaving the two of them behind in his cabin.

Aang looked to his right and saw the spot on his face where Katara had punched him, and his eyes remained closed. "Jet," he finally said, "I too once looked up to you until you betrayed us all. Now I may not be of any care to you and I don't care for you either, but you still had one person who still believes in you. This is why we brought you here, so that you can remember."

Jet opened his eyes and glared at him, "do you really think that your sympathy is really going to make me a changed man? Or a few words from a kid? Let me tell you something Aang, what they did to me is something you will never comprehend. I gave up _everything_ to live by their rules, they broke me in so many ways that the Jet you remembered did die. Again, and again, and again until his ashes were blown into the wind; never to be found again. So whatever you think you're trying to accomplish, just stay the hell out of it. No matter how I look at it, I am a dead man on both sides of the river."

"You're right, I don't understand what you went through, but it doesn't have to be like that. You chose to leave them so you must have some desire to help us. Even Katara still believes in you."

"Does that bother you a lot? For her to believe in me."

Aang thought about it for a second and decided to be honest with him for some reason. "I have learned to never tell Katara what to do, because she is going to do it anyways. I don't like her being around you. There are times it makes me so sick to see you near her after what you did, she is not the one to let go of grudges so easily."

For the first time in a while he gave a real laugh, "that is something we both can agree on then."

He nodded, "so do you think you are ready to try and do the right thing?"

Jet looked around at the cabin for a second, _acting_ like he was confused and scared to agree with him. He beckoned towards him, "yea. Guess it's time I try to do the right thing."

OooooOooooOoooo

Katara had been at it for hours trying to help him; causing him to sweat a little as he took on the demons of his past. He loved the feeling of her cool hands in his hair as well as the blue glow that she formed in her hands. Jet never understood how she made his mind so relaxed and he didn't care to know, he just enjoyed it all. For a long time it felt like he couldn't think or act on himself, and the fog in his mind seemed to clear a little bit. For the first time in a long while he felt free to search his past without pain.

"Anything?" she asked, wondering if all this work she was doing was even worth her time. She wanted Jet to help them, but a part of her warned her to stay away from him.

He sighed heavily and shook his head, "no. Everything is still a blur, but there are some things I do remember. Things I'm not too sure can help though." Jet was just trying to reel her in; making her think that it was a scary thought.

The Waterbender stopped and decided to sit in front of him, hoping to tell if he was lying to her or not. "Like what?"

"_Gotcha,_" he thought to himself. "I remember the day they broke me finally and I became their humble servant. I can still hear the screams of the men I killed—as well as the women and some of the children too…I can see their faces as well."

She scooted a little bit closer to him, "tell me about it."

Jet ran his hand through his hair, "what would you like to know?"

"What is it like when they break you?"

"…the minutes drag by _so_ slowly. All the pain and suffering you can possibly imagine is ten times worse than any nightmare you ever dreamed. I don't know how long I hung on those chains in the air with my feet dangling above a dark pit that I was sure I was going to end up in. Every time they hit me, something new would always break; arm, ribs, even my left leg. I recall throwing up a lot and pleading for them to stop, but they never did. It wasn't until I was laying on that cold floor and bleeding to death that I said I would join them, without consciously saying it. I thought it happened in a week, but it only took them one day to completely break me."

Though he was trying to make her feel sympathetic about his time with them in the beginning, Jet couldn't believe he was telling her all of this or even understood why he did it. Maybe it was nice to talk to someone who wasn't a killer like him. He knew he had to gain their trust and this seemed the more plausible way; however, it was still nice to tell someone about it. It was something he kept to himself for so long that he truly forgot what his pain was like. There are days he wished he had just died in those chains.

Katara didn't know what to say to him, as he told the story she could see through his eyes that he was telling the truth. The way his body shook when he mentioned "them" or how he would place a hand a rib that was broken too many times. Either way she believed him and in a small way felt the pain. She decided to ask a question that she was afraid to ask…

"What kept you alive during that time?"

His eyes traveled back to hers, letting the silence consume them in the cabin. "You, Katara. The possibility of seeing you again, even if it was just for a second, was well worth it. I tried to remember the good days when you thought of me a hero, and tried to die like one when you left me in Ba Sing Se. I remember you trying to heal me even though I knew I was beyond your abilities. I just wanted to see you; those blue eyes of yours and the way you would blush when we were close."

"Jet…" Katara started and then was silenced when he reached out towards her hand and gently held onto it with his dry rough hands. The feeling of them were so different from Aang's', almost alien. She didn't grasp back in fear that he would take it the wrong way, but he was already starting to lean forward very slowly. For some reason her body didn't move, it was like she was stuck in this hypnotic stage and her heart and mind told her to move.

Jet could smell the fresh fragrance on her and could see that she was right where he wanted her. The Death Stalkers taught him the way of the Viper Snake; he was trained to make the snake follow his every move with a single wave of his hand or even his eyes. He was bitten so many times for failing, but it was paid off when it finally lifted its head to him. He had complete control of it, and now it was working on Katara. She had let her guard down on him for one second, just like the snake had, and now he was to show her that he was the right man for her. The coolness of her breath on his face was like a breeze on a hot summers day; perfect when you were in need of a wind. Jet was just a few inches from her face and ready to taste her lips as he took off his metal plate. He didn't close his eyes as the kiss was like a feathery touch on her, and then he pressed harder into her still not looking away. Suddenly a sound of cloth from behind them moved.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sokka shouted loud enough to wake up the entire camp, and grabbed Jet by the back of his shirt. He slammed him against the wall with his glistening sword at his neck accidently cutting him, and showing that he didn't care. His sister snapped out of it finally, realizing what just happened to her. Katara didn't know how it happened, but he just kissed her and she did nothing to stop him. She simply started crying, trying to hold back the sobs by covering her mouth. She had betrayed Aang's trust as well as his heart.

Her older brother looked down at her still holding onto the traitor, "did he hurt you?" His sister was silent, and his face went back to Jet who had a hard time breathing now. He was gasping for air and pointing down to his mask in which Sokka refused him. "I think it's a good day to die, right Jet!"

"No," Aang said and picked up the mask. He pulled down his sword that was so eagerly waiting to slit his throat. The Monk handed him back the mask, in which Jet earnestly grabbed it and taking deep and long breaths into it while coughing at the same time.

"Take him out to Suki now," Aang ordered.

"But Aang, he just—"

"I said _now_!" The Airbender yelled at his friend, and Sokka could tell he was doing everything within his power to no slaughter Jet right there. He obeyed his orders and dragged him out of the cabin, leaving Katara and him alone.

He hadn't looked at her once since he came in trying to hold back Ozai's strength growing in him. If he hadn't have meditated before he heard Sokka yelling, things might have been a bit different. He knew when her brother had yelled out in that voice, Jet had kissed Katara. It was the same anger that Sokka had given to him when he was about to tell Katara that he wasn't Kuzon on that night of the beach. Aang finally looked at her and saw her trembling in his presence, afraid of him. He honestly didn't know what to say to her or how to say it without getting angry. The Monk let his mind wonder around the room as he tried to calm himself, and feeding his hate into the small flames in the cabin. It got bigger and brighter; he knew that if he didn't contain himself, he was going to burn down the forest. He closed his eye lids thinking of Katara and him; the day he came back to her, first kiss on the cheek, how she made him feel, or how being around her made him the Avatar that he was before Ozai. Aang finally turned back around to her and opened his eyes to her. She hadn't moved at all, but only tears seemed to flow down her cheek and onto her clothing. Right then he wasn't infuriated with her anymore or even Jet, because he finally knew.

The Airbender walked to her and picked Katara up, but she refused to do it. "Say whatever you need to say…I deserve it." Her words hurt him in a way that only she could do. He knew Jet did something to her before he kissed her, and for right now it didn't matter.

He bent down to her until he was sitting on his right leg, and moving the wet hair that stuck on her face. He wiped away her tears that continued to flow at his touch while she tried to deny the compassion he was trying to give to her. Her ocean eyes were closed as she tried not to look at his face; seeing his pain would only make her sick with disgust of herself.

"_Why didn't I stop him? Why is it that Aang always gets hurt by me? I don't deserve him, I am so worthless. I kissed Jet and didn't even try to move…I just let him._" Katara kept questioning herself and becoming more and more frustrated with herself. Unexpectedly, she felt strong, warm arms wrap around her leg and back as he picked her up from the floor. More drops of water continued to drip from her face and onto Aang's chest and clothing, making wet marks onto him. He walked out of the cabin, signaling the Gang not to say anything while he took her to their cabin. The Monk placed her on the straw bed he made for her with a blanket on top, but she lashed onto his neck; not wanting him to leave her. She knew that she shouldn't do it, but his touch meant so much to her. It was like he was her ocean and air to breathe, things she needed to survive with.

He whispered into her, "sleep. There is nothing more to fear tonight."

"Please…don't leave me—I need you Aang, and I know I can't ask this of you, but _please_ stay." She continued sobbing her words out.

The Avatar kissed her on the forehead, "okay, Katara." He nestled up next to her with his arm above her waist and his other hand wrapped around her shoulders as he stroked her face with his thumb. He wanted nothing more than to be there for her, and comfort her in anyways she needed it. Aang should be mad at her and wanting to kill Jet even more, in which he would take care of him later.

He had come to terms a long time ago that if Katara wanted to be with another man, then he would do his best to be her best friend. No matter what he would always love her the same as yesterday, today, and even into his next life. Whatever she wanted from him he would give. It was easier said than done; however, after what happened he knew he had to let her go if necessary. Finally after an hour of crying she had stopped and decided to look up to his face. He looked exhausted still and the bags underneath his eyes had darkened again; however, she saw no hint of anger or hate in those grey storms of his. In fact she saw nothing but love in them for her.

"Why aren't you saying anything to me? Is it so hard to look at the woman who betrayed your love?"

He sighed, "at first I was angry and upset, but I finally decided that it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean?" she questioned with fear in the answer he was going to give her.

"Katara you know that I love you more than anything in the universe, and I will be whatever you need me to be; if you need a shoulder to lean on I'll be that guy, you want a friend I'll be that friend, if you want me to show you how much I love you then I will, if you want me to leave you, but still support you I will do that. I'll be whoever you want me to be Katara, because I value your needs more above my own."

"But I don't even deserve this love and warmth you are giving me; I am not even worthy enough to breath the same air as you." She said about to cry again, but only felt his arms wrap tighter around her. Not wanting to let her go.

"I once told you that I didn't deserve you, and you told me you do deserve me and I you. So I intend to keep it that way until you decide to leave me. If you want to be with Jet then I will always be by your side, I will be the friend you need me to be."

"But I don't want him. I want _you_ and _only_ you!" Katara confessed again not wanting to lose him, even though it would be a rightful punishment. She heard him laugh a little, and it made her wish she could hear him laugh more like that; the child like Aang that she forever missed.

"I believe you do, and I'm not leaving you Katara. After you kissed him and I finally looked at you I realized that my answer to my question was finally revealed. For so long I tricked myself into believing that you still had feelings for him and I didn't know how to respond to it if you chose him over me. But now I know without any doubt that you don't care for him in the same matter that you do for me. And even if you did, then so be it. I'll still love you no matter what." Aang meant every word as he remembered Monk Gyatso telling him that love is a risk and with risk comes sacrificing. He did not understand that until now, but it's not an easy thing to accept. It was something he was going to have to practice with every single day.

"Why? Why would you do that?" She again asked knowing she should shut up, but this wasn't how things go when you lock lips with another guy unintentionally while you have a boyfriend. Aang leaned in towards her and kissed her nose, one of the many little things he did that made her fall even more madly in love with him.

"Because I love you too much to lose you, Katara. You are my life and as long as you are in it in any remote way I am complete."

Katara hugged his lean, soft skinned body. "Since when did you become such a romantic?"

"Mmm I don't know, I guess it was about the time I realized how much I loved you." He joked with her. He was going to take care of Jet, but right now was all that mattered to him, the future he would deal with tomorrow. He kissed her gently on the lips, and then did it again with a small smile forming.

"No one can kiss as good as you, you should know that." She giggled a little bit with him, signaling him to do it again. And just like that he kissed her softly, as her hands went up towards his face and wanting him to kiss harder. He let her for a few moments, and then they went back to butterfly kisses.

She moaned, "I hate it when you do that to me. It's really not fair."

Aang chuckled, "I think it is completely fair. One of us has to be the adult around here."

"So let me be it then," Katara spoke in a sexual manner that drove the Monk crazy. It was never easy for him to deny what he wanted, and everyday it was harder and harder not to please her in every physical way possible.

He gave her two pecks on her mouth, "you have no idea what kind of strength it takes for me to not let you do whatever you want with me. It's a constant battle and you're not making it any easier for me."

"All is fair in love and war," Katara quoted and started to kiss him again and feeling him smile. She felt his arms unwrap around her and pushed her shoulders back so she could stop; he laughed when he saw that pouty face of hers. She was totally acting like a child now.

"I don't think that is the correct way to use it in this situation, but I do believe in what that means with us. And as _much_ as I want this with you, I want us to be different than the others. I want to do this right with you the first time without screwing it up somehow."

"How could you screw it up?" she asked, suddenly intrigued.

Aang rolled her onto the side hearing the rustling of the hay underneath them as he laid on his side as well to face her. "Well first screw up was when we kissed in the Cave of Two Lovers, and then the second was when _I_ kissed you just before our invasion began on the Fire Nation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always seemed to mess it up with you, especially with my words."

She rolled her eyes at him, "maybe next time you will keep your mouth shut." She giggled and then placed her hand on his warm cheek, "And you caught me off guard on the subs, I wasn't expecting you to do that!"

"And at the end of those results things weren't right with us, and you even told me that my mission was more important than us together. At first I didn't understand and now I do. Let me do this the right way for once, so that I can be proud when the day comes to spend the rest of my life with you. And the only thing I would want to worry about is…" Aang stopped himself, realizing that he was going too far into this. He was still a kid and yet he was already thinking of marriage and having children with her. He wanted to marry her without a doubt, but as for starting a family with her seemed to make him fearful.

"Worry about—what?"

"Nothing. I was just babbling on, sorry."

"No, tell me what you were going to say or I swear I'll beat it out of you." Katara threatened, wanting to hear what he had to say.

He caved in knowing she wasn't going to give up until he told her what was on his mind, "I would rather be fighting over what kind of a child we would have." Aang felt his cheeks burning on the idea of bringing children into this world. He could barely manage his life and relationship with the others, and he was already considering the idea.

She only managed a smile, "well I would want a girl with a heart like her fathers."

He grinned back too, "and the strength of her mother who can take out dozens of troops. And I would want her to have your eyes." Aang grabbed her hand and kissed her palm.

She shook her head, "no. No, I would want her to have yours; so that every time when I look into them I'll see you those grey storms of yours."

"Well I want the ocean to look at so, I might as well have the eyes since you chose to have a girl. But if it's a boy…"

Her smile grew wider, "my good looks and your eyes then." She winked at him and kissed him again. "But no matter if it's a boy or girl I want them to be an Airbender."

Aang didn't know how to react with the idea of another Airbender running around in this world, but he felt joy and small measure of hope forming inside of him. He would help raise up and teach the child of the old ways of a Monk, just as Gyatso had taught him. It brought a tear to his eyes as he thought of not being the last known Airbender alive, another generation would live on after he died, or at least he would hope to get that opportunity. His future as Aunt Wu predicted, would be decided by one decision he would make. As for what he did not know, but he needed to talk to Roku. Perhaps he could spread some light on this issue even though he did not like the idea of him clinging onto the Fortunetellers premonition.

The Monk kissed her on the forehead, "that would be simply amazing for me, but no matter the gender or their bending ability, I will love that child because just it would be ours."

The tired girl grinned at the idea of another Airbender running around, teaching him to airbend, fly, and be like Aang. She yawned unintentionally, and he could tell she was getting tired now and told her to get some sleep; promising her that he would come later on. Katara knew he was going to do something to Jet even though he would get what he deserved, she just couldn't stand Aang doing something else he would regret later on. But before she could say anything she was fast asleep, feeling exhausted physically and emotionally from crying too much.

The Avatar found Jet tied up with The Duke watching over him as if his own life had depended on it. Something must have happened though, because anger was showing up on the young boys face even more than before and he needed time to cool off for a few minutes.

"Hey The Duke, mind if I take him off your hands for a little bit. Seems that he and I have a small matter to discuss."

The young boy nodded to him and walked away, "I'll get him some food from the kitchen and bring him something too. Should be enough time for you to talk about whatever you need."

Aang thanked him as he walked away with a bit of relaxation as he sneaked his way out of there. He looked straight at Jet now, both just starring each other down. It seemed that every animal and insect was quiet, and only the sound you could hear were the tree limbs blowing in their stillness. The Monk knew his enmity for him had grown stronger now, he could feel the fire forming in his hands without calling to it. It was easy to forgive Katara because he truly believed that Jet did do something to her, but with Jet it was never easy to forgive and let go. The Airbender continued to look at him for a few minutes at the scared man who had his hands, arms, and feet bound.

Aang squatted down in front of him, "you have no idea what I want to do to you right now. It's bad enough I convinced my friends to let you come with us even though they didn't want to, and now you go off kissing Katara like it's no big deal!"

"You seriously can't blame me for trying Aang, I mean—any guy would do what I just did."

The Monk shook his head, "you wanna know what I think? I think you want everyone to hate you, because you like being this way. You love getting under my skin, messing with Katara and me as well as everyone else, and you love to make me angry. However, I still believe there is good in you."

He chuckled, "you don't know me at all. The Jet you knew is gone, _this_ is who I am."

"Normally I would agree with you and beat you up for what you just did, but after what I saw today I knew there was a part of you that still lives. Coming back here seemed to help remind you of those who followed you and believed in you."

"…you want to know the best part of kissing Katara? How amazing she tasted, and the way her lips were _so_ soft against mine." He licked his lips and rolled his eyes back, "and that she didn't even pull away from me either."

The Monk tightened his jaw exposing all the muscles he could show and then stood up, using his technique of the stomach routine. His breathing was fast as he tried to control the urge to break his neck.

Jet kept pushing his buttons, "she even told me how much she missed me and when she would dream of me while you disappeared. I thought about her everyday Aang, I dreamed of kissing her."

His breathing intensified "shut up."

"What, afraid to admit that she enjoyed our little rendezvous?"

Aang put his hands into a ball feeling his blood vessels about to pop out of his arms, and the fire that was starting to feel like lava coursing through him. "I said shut up!"

Without Aang realizing it Jet had untied himself, and attacked Aang with fist flying in the air. He punched him in the stomach first, causing the air in the Monks lungs to burst out unintentionally. Then a knee into his face and making his eyes water in pain, while Jet swiped Aang's feet from underneath him. The traitor gets on top of him and hits Aang's face again and again. The Monk flew him off of his body by airbending him into the trees, but Jet hopped back up on his feet wanting ready to fight. Jet attacked again before the Avatar stood up, blocking his knee to his face and then the older boy side kicked him on the face and sending him to the ground again. The Avatar could taste the blood, not sure if it was from his nose or the inside of mouth.

Jet was breathing hard, "you know, I never understood why she wanted to be with you. Everyone thinks you're this _big_ Avatar and yet you can't beat a simple person like me. I guess when she chose a loser like you, she settled for what she couldn't have. Me! Who would want to be with someone like you, whose people began the 100 years war on the Fire Nation and then killed all of those other innocents?"

Aang's eyes opened wide to him as he held his stomach and stood up all shaken up as his words stuck to him like cactus spikes; couldn't see them, but you could feel the pain none the less. The Monk let it all go. He attacked back, not even seeing how he did it. All he saw was darkness and then he felt hands around him, which he fought off instinctively. It felt like he just went into the Avatar state, but he couldn't see what he was doing. And without a warning something hit his head in the right spot to knock him out. His knees hit the ground before he face planted it onto the wood floor underneath him.

With Aang lying on the ground knocked out everyone tried to catch their breath while Jet laid on the floor too, and bleeding. He agonized and moaned in pain to all of the gang as his eyes caught Katara's. She looked over her boyfriend as she and the others pushed his heavy body onto his back, while she examined his wounds. Katara gave Jet an evil eye and she could see those smiling wrinkles of forming, like he just accomplished something and then passed out. He was in just as much worse shape then Aang, possibly a few broken bones and his left arm was out of socket. If it hadn't been for Pipsqueak, they might've been too late. The tattooed boy was choking the life out of him as he held him in a head lock, and Jet kept elbowing him in the ribs. They grabbed onto Aang and he fought back against them as if they were the enemy, and his eyes were pitch black Katara noted.

Sokka, Zuko, and Suki went over towards Jet. The boys held him down as she popped back his arm into his socket making him wake up again in pain as he screamed out, causing the birds to stir around the,. And just like that he fell back into silence and passed out once again.

"Aang, Aang can you hear me?" Katara questioned, lightly patting on his face. He still didn't move, so she shook him. His eyes fluttered open and went straight to Jet, and tossed her off of him, ready for round two. Luckily, Pipsqueak grabbed a hold of him from behind in the same choke hold he had on Jet. Katara got in front of him with his eyes still dark and his Avatar about to wake up, and again she screamed his name. His body tensed up for a second, but he started to fight the bigger man that was holding him back. He whipped his head back at the giants' nose, releasing him for a second and grabbed onto him again with the pain coursing through Pipsqueaks face. This time he squeezed his just neck enough to cause Aang's body to stop squirming and long enough for him to find Katara; it like he was seeing her for the first time. Alive. He stopped fighting back finally and she could see the darkness from him disappearing as grey spheres forming again. The giant man released him in which the Monk fell to the floor with Katara there to catch him. She held him in her arms just like when Aang came out of the Avatar state after he found out that Firebender's killed Gyatso.

"Wha—what happened?" he finally breathed out to her in a whisper.

"Shh. It's okay, you weren't yourself."

"Jet…I remember Jet. What happened?"

She looked over and saw someone carrying him off while the other orphaned kids were looking down at them in the trees, wondering what was going to happen next. Jet had a lot of burn marks on him, as well as cuts and bruises from the fist fight.

"He'll live. Probably got what he deserved though."

He shook his head, "I did that to him…what have I become?"

She hugged him tightly, "It wasn't you. I know who you are Aang, you would never do this."

The Monk didn't say anything as he looked on the wood he sat on, seeing his and Jet's red blood dripping in between the cracks. It was spread out everywhere from their foot prints while they scrambled in their fight of one another and then trying to fight off the Gang too. He looked down at Katara and saw red liquid dripping onto her beautiful blue warriors outfit, and that made him feel worse. Aang moved away from her so he wouldn't make it any worse, but she didn't care. She just held onto him like she always did, trying to make him feel better. But as he tried to replay the last few minutes, he saw nothing. It was like someone put blind folds on him and controlled his body, obeying everything he had wanted to do to Jet. Ozai had learned to somehow do this and Aang wasn't sure how much more time he had before something else was going to happen…like killing his friends.

Katara helped him stand up while his eyes wondered around at his surroundings. The smell of smoke was in the air, leaves and trees had been burned to a crisp; even parts of their tree homes were up in smoke too. Only Katara and Zuko could have put it out before the flames could have taken over the forest. Aang had not realized that he was firebending during his "black out". The Gang surrounded him now with puzzled and confused looks and more sensed a more detection of fear in them as well.

Toph crossed her arms, "Twinkle Toes I think it's about time you tell us what the heck is going on right now with you."

Aang didn't say anything, but only made eye contact with Katara. Even without words they knew how to communicate with each other, and she was telling him that it was his decision to make.

Sokka spoke, "Aang we know you have been different since you came back. And after that little incident you pulled at Aunt Wu's we had all hoped that you would tell us in time of what is going on with _you_! But we voted, and I think it's time you tell us."

"Agreed." Zuko said, "obviously Katara knows something is going on with you, otherwise would be just as freaked out as we are. We know you guys have secrets, and we understand that, but this seems like it is something bigger than just you and her. We deserve to know!"

The Monk wasn't for sure what to tell them, some knew of his story while others were actually in the dark of his past. He was planning on telling them; however, at the same time he was hoping he didn't have to. They were his friends that had become brothers and sisters to him, and now they were going to have to judge him. He knew Sokka and Zuko weren't going to like it one bit if he told them, and he wasn't too sure of the others. It was hard enough to tell Katara of Ozai's Spirit and how it was a constant struggle to remain the same as he was almost two years ago. Back then he was just a kid who had to learn the ways of the Avatar and at the same time do the things he missed out on his hundred year disappearance. Back when Zuko was chasing and trying to capture him to gain his honor back, and when he only had about six months to learn how to bend all four elements when it took years for all other Avatars before him, in order to defeat Ozai before Sozin's Comet would help burn the world to ash…what he would give to go back in time and stay that way then to grow up with evil inside of him.

His friends waited for a response as they stood there while Katara held onto him and he graciously accepted it. Aang didn't want to lose his friends, but they were right; they did deserve to know what they got themselves into with him. He told them before they began that they didn't have to go any farther than they desired and he meant it. Aang chose to leave them in order to protect and if they wanted to do the same thing for their lives, he wouldn't hold it against them. But if Sokka didn't want Katara around him, could he deny the loyalty her brother has towards his fathers promise? To protect her no matter what. Could he truly go on this journey alone again without the woman he loves and the friends he made along way from the past few years? Would he actually let go in order for them to be safe from him? The Monk knew the answer was an automatic yes, but it would the one of the toughest things he would have to live with and he would accept whatever decision they, as a gang, would make.

Aang took a deep breath after he looked at Katara one last time, and then at the other six faces. "What would you like to know?"

**_Whoo! If you made it this far, Bravo! I know it was long, but I hope you guys still like it thoguh. It had a LOT of drama in it as well that the romance that everyone seems to enjoy. So now that we know what Jet's plan really is, how far will he go to get what he wants? And I hope Baconbitz that you were satisfied with the Toph and Teo realtionship, did that one for you since you asked for it. Whelp I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and that you took breaks in between. Longest chapter ever, and I don't think I'll ever do this again. Also, sorry to Gogo 2011, I think I told you that I would put a "Free Falling" scene again in this chapter and I obviously didn't :( I will do it again though, I promise! Just didn't seem to fit in with what I was doing, but then again I could be wrong lol. Wouldn't be the first time._**

**_You all know what to do! REVIEW/COMMENT me! I do read them ALL! Or if you feel comfortable emailing me I will get back to you ASAP! Also I won't be writing any this week just because I have two papers due, so just a heads up on that. _**

**_Peace and Love Avatards_**

**_Sportie07_**


	24. The Truth is Finally Sorda Known

**Hey again everyone! First off, _THANK YOU _all for the comments as well as the e-mails! You guys seriously keep me motivated! I know it's taken me a while, but I lost my flash dirve which had EVERYTHING on it and I just couldn't rewrite it all, and then there was finals to add to the stress which was just another pain in the butt. So, just thought I'd let you guys know why it was a late to publish and no worries I found my flash drive...obviously lol. But seriously Avatards, I really do appreciate all that you have said to me since I haven't put up another chapter in quite a while. ****For all of you who are still kinda questioning whether or not I intend to finsih this story, the answer is an absolute YES! If I don't write the chapters quickly it just means that something is kinda up, so don't worry about it. I'll finish it :) even if it takes me another year to do. Also, I am going to try and start naming my chapters from now on.**

**I own nothing of ATLA, just love writing about it for you all out there! I apologize ahead of time for ANY repeated words, grammaring problems, or mispelled words. I wish I was an editor, but I'm not lol. (Recap on Chapter 23) Aang loses control of himself, in the forest where Pipsqueak and The Duke live, after Jet 'purposely' kisses Katara and starts rubbing it all in Aang'sface. He overreacts, bringing Ozai out of him a little, and Katara helps bring him back to his normal self. The Gang sees the way he reacts again for the second time and now they want answers...so now onto Chapter 24! Enjoy!**

Aang told them everything; how Ozai's Spirit lived inside of him, his reasons for leaving, what the Guru was _really_ training him for, how Guru Pathik had died, he showed them the personal letter that was written to him before the elderly man passed away, how he had stayed hidden for so long, and how some methods have helped him stay in control. Some of the Gang things here and there already, but the Monk still wasn't going tell them about his vision; he figured it wasn't totally lying if they didn't ask about it. Most of them were all too stunned to say anything as they soaked up everything that came out of his mouth like an elbow leech. Once he was done telling them "everything" he just sat there. His friends were all crammed up in Katara and his cabin; he sat near the door while all the others were on the opposite side of him. Sokka had his mouth opened the entire time, Suki seemed to try and understand the energy bending, Toph wasn't surprised at times while at others times she shocked, Teo didn't say too much while he sat there, Mai was very intrigued by all of this, and Zuko seemed to be the one taking it the hardest. With the Fire Lords arms crossed and leaning against the wall he recalled his so called "father" very clearly; the one man whom he despised, hated for "showing" him respect, who banished him for speaking the truth, and the one person who was now in his best friend; the Avatar.

The Airbenders eyes found Katara's who seemed to try and help explain to all of them that he has been making a lot of progress. Her brother as well as everyone else was furious that she knew his darkest secrets and yet he didn't have the audacity to tell his friends. The ones that had put their lives at risk for him everyday, willing to do anything for him, and fight by his side. Now they all seemed to just want to murder him for this type of secrecy he held back from the gang, and for that he was ashamed. Everyday he had always hoped that he would never have to show this other side of him, but they had already seen it that part of him twice and it seemed to finally make sense to them. Aang sat there on the floor with his legs crossed underneath, along with his staff in front of him. He then placed his elbows on his knees so that he could lean over a little, relieving the pain of his lower back. He could easily detect fear on their faces, even though they tried to hide it from him without much success.

"…that's about it. I'm sorry for keeping you all in the dark, but—I had hoped I would have gotten rid of this by now. To be honest, I don't know if I will ever be able to be rid of him completely."

The Waterbender was caught the words he said, "_Does he truly believe that?_" she questioned in her mind.

Toph was the first to speak out, "is this why you can't go into the Avatar state while we were in the caves saving those people?'

He nodded, "one thing Guru Pathik didn't want me to do was go into it until _he_ was out of me. It was a warning to never do it."

"So how can you be the Avatar if you are not allowed to be it?" Suki questioned while she changed position in her seating.

"I can't."

"What will happen if you do?" Zuko asked, wondering what his father's spirit was capable of.

"To be honest I really don't know. The Guru believes that if I were to open up myself to my entire past Avatar's, his Spirit could be strong enough to possibly take hold of me. Everyday he grows stronger inside, and it becomes harder to physically and mentally difficult to fight him off. He is just as much apart of me as my own spirit is now."

"But when you go into the Spirit World, why is it that he doesn't try then?" Mai asked this time as she paid attention to all of what he was saying.

To Aang this felt like an interrogation, but what could he expect from those who didn't understand it, he didn't fully understand it either. Even Katara truly didn't know his pain, or the torturous things that went on inside of him. It would be just another thing for her to worry about, and he wanted her to concentrate on finding the Death Stalkers right now.

"It's not very easy, but with the Guru's help I was able to do it. My body may shut down, but my defenses are up. That's why I always come out in a sweat after I'm done; because my body has been trained enough to unconsciously stop him during my hours in the Spirit World. I cannot stay long though, because of the danger. I have found very few Spirits who are willing to help me when I seek wisdom. Even my past lives have taken precaution."

Teo licked his lips, "is there no way to get _him_ out of you?"

Aang ran a hand his bald head and down to his neck, feeling the soreness from sitting so long. "There was only one person who knew how to, and he is gone. It has proven very difficult to find him in the other world; I don't have too many friends there."

Sokka sneered at him with a sarcastic remark, "go figure."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Zuko asked again, this time seeing Aang getting a little bit irritated from all of the repeated questions.

"I was hoping I would never have to. I had _hoped_ I could be in better control. The day I left was to protect all of you, and when I was willing to look for the Death Stalkers I wanted to do it alone. I didn't know what I was capable of if I let go for even for a second. I never asked you to do this, because if I ever hurt any of you I would never forgive myself."

"But you come out of it every time though. Why is it that Katara seems to be the influence of this?" Suki mentioned, recalling how the Waterbender had brought him back to his normal self.

Aang looked at Katara again, wishing it was enough to sustain him. But the past two times have been far more difficult, and even with her influence it could not last forever. He needed to get this demon out of him.

"I cannot tell you why. It could be because through her love I am connected to all of you. She was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes from being frozen for a hundred years, and then she became my friend, my master, and now she is someone very close to my heart."

Teo moved his wheel chair a little, "so why can't we keep using that then?"

The Monk rubbed his eyes as the stress of all of this seemed to be putting on his shoulders, "she is like a distraction for me. It can help, but it's not a cure."

Sokka stood up, "are you saying my sister isn't good enough for you Airhead?"

Suki then grabbed his hand to help calm him a little, seeing that he was taking what he said too personally. He looked down at her and wanted to yank his hand from her, but figured that he had better sit back down. Aang thanked her with a nod from his head, letting her know what he saw.

He shook his head, "no I am not saying that all Sokka. But let me give you an example as to what I mean: say I got bit by a rattle viper. We all know that if you suck the enough poison out it will give you more time to find a healer, but you can't go on for days doing that. Katara can help prevent it for a while, but it is not the answer that I am looking for."

"…what it is like?" Zuko questioned, "the experience?"

"Words really can't describe it, but I know that all of my blood cells are on fire; I can hear his voice sometimes, black outs occur, and now I can't recall seeing anything I did. Just like with Jet, it was like waking up from a bad nightmare and then seeing that you did it anyways. Almost like sleepwalking."

"Has this ever happened to another Avatar?" Toph asked, wondering if he could perhaps find the other Avatar and help him through it.

He shook his head, "not that I am aware of. I need to go back into the Spirit World again; perhaps Roku will help me…" Aang knew Roku couldn't help too much; he was just as confused as he was. There was another person who could possibly know, and if it was the only answer left then he would have no choice. He hoped that it wouldn't come down to that point of desperation, but he was already past that point.

"Look you guys" the tired young boy said, "I am a danger to all of you. That is the honest to the Heavens truth. You still have the choice to leave right here, and now. I don't want you to leave, but a part of me wishes that you would heed my words. You all know that I am not the same person anymore and now you know why; there is a darkness inside of me that is growing. But you need to choose again; live your lives or risk losing it." Aang looked around all of his friends, saving Katara for last. Every one of them showed a hint of despair, doubt, and confusion. He understood that and he wasn't for sure if they would stay now that they all knew most of his secrets.

Sokka stood up, "I think you should give us some time to think. _All_ of us," he said looking at his little sister whom he knew would stay with Aang if he needed her. It was a selfish move on the Avatar's part and at the same time he expected them to continue to trust him. Who knows what other secrets he was holding in the back of that brainless head of his? Everyone was pretty quiet as they waited for the seated Monk to answer.

He stood up with his glider in hand, "I think it would be a wise choice for you all to do that."

He bowed to them and turned to leave the quiet room to discuss amongst one another. He wasn't willing to eavesdrop on them since it would only make things worse, so he decided he needed to go on ahead and go back into the Spirit World. Aang needed answers too, and this was the only way. The Monk walked back into his cabin, placing his staff to the right of him and then sat in a lotus pose with his hands relaxed on his thighs. He closed his eyes and began to breath calmly, focusing his hearing on the kids outside playing in the trees, the leaves blowing, after that it was the breeze, and then the small candle light in front of him until all else went into silence.

OooooOooooOoooo

"Katara how long have you known about this?" Sokka yelled with a finger pointed at her as if he just stolen something from her.

She swatted it away, "Does it matter? The real question is are you _really_ considering not staying with Aang?"

"Maybe! He brought this upon himself. We just saw what he is capable, and now that we know it seems a little ridiculous not to at least consider our options."

"Options? You mean like leaving Aang by himself and not help _your_ friend through all of this?"

"He just said that he doesn't know how to get it out of him! Seems like he doesn't know what he is doing."

"So that gives you the right to just turn your back and walk away from him?"

"I have every right and I don't want to, okay! But who knows what else he is hiding from us, or even from you. I promised Dad I would protect you and it seems like Aang is a dangerous person now."

"This is why he didn't want to tell you! You make him seem like he's a fugitive. This is _Aang_ we are talking about, remember!"

"Oh right! The same guy who ran away from you for a year and a half to leave you broken hearted without even a subtle hint that he is alive, and might I add now he is part Ozai!"

Zuko couldn't take the bickering anymore, "enough, the both of you!" He yelled loud enough to cause the cricket hoppers to stop chirping. "Geez you two sound like a couple of siblings! You make me and Azula look like a family picnic."

"And that's saying a lot," Toph said through her teeth like as if she was trying to hide the fact that she had said it at all.

The Fire Lord rolled his eyes, "look Aang had his reasons for leaving. He is giving us the choice to leave, but I know all of you want to help him. Katara is right about one thing, he is still Aang. I think it would be far more risky to leave him now. Sokka, we know what he can possibly do. Now imagine what he could do without any of us here with him?"

The young warrior thought about that for a second, considering everything in the past. He wasn't really going to leave Aang; he was like a brother to him. He was just pissed that he kept lying to them as if it was no big deal, and in this case it was a huge _deal_.

"Even though Aang has lied to all of us, I still believe we should help him. Even the Guru's letter says that he will need us in the end, and I think he needs us now. This is the same Monk that brought all of us together, the same one who was once my young pupil, and the same one who would let us leave in order to be protected. _I_ still trust him."

"I agree with Zuko and Katara," Toph said. "There is no way I'm gonna let that Airbender walk away from me without a fight."

"Me too," Suki proclaimed and Mai nodded with her in agreement.

"Aang is my friend too" Teo said, "so I will stay."

"Sokka?" Zuko asked his water buddy.

He shrugged, "eh, I was never gonna leave him anyways. I just thought it would be nice not to let him sweat it out while we talked."

"Then it's settled," Katara spoke. She knew they were wonderful friends, and now Aang didn't have to worry about them again. She gave Zuko a quick hug for his words to them, and then left the room with the sound of her boots clicking behind her.

OooooOooooOoooo

"_It's good to see you again Aang, been a long time." Roku said as he stood before him, still much taller than he was._

_The Monk bowed respectably to him, "we have had our disagreements, but I know you meant well by them."_

_He smiled, "thank you for understanding Aang. We have had argument, but I think we can agree about the Spirit inside of you. Something _must_ be done."_

_They both were walking side by side with each other now, "I know…the Lion Turtle told me that before the era of the Avatar people could energybend. But there is no record or history of it either, so how is it possible to understand it?"_

"_I wish I knew the answers, I truly do. Another Avatar must've done it sometime, but it may have been ages before us."_

_The Monk sighed, "I know I am connected to all of them, but there are just so many! I don't have the time to call on each one of them when I don't even know who it is I am looking for."_

_Roku stopped and faced him to show a concerned look to him. Aang was having a more difficult time with this than he did choosing life or death for Ozai. "There is perhaps one solution to this…"_

_Aang knew what he meant, "I'm not sure if I can do it again. Things are different now with me, you've seen it."_

"_He is the oldest spirit here and he might be your only option as well."_

_The Monk placed his hands on his hips, "even a _hint_ of fear could trigger the spirit within me as well as Koh. It's too much of a risk that I cannot take this time."_

_The taller man placed a hand on his right shoulder, "everyday is a risk for you, Aang. As you already know time is of the essence and this is perhaps the last plausible reasoning you will have."_

_The Airbender knew he was right; he just didn't want to admit it. Going against the 'Face Stealer' again felt like an impossible task at hand. Everything would literally be placed on the line. He hadn't shown any fear in the Spirit World before and if Ozai even got a glimpse at it in him he might exploit it, and all that he fought for for so long would end right there; as well as never having a face again. He shouldn't be afraid of Koh though, last time he did very well at staying calm and showing no hint of emotion. This time it was far more different._

"_What if I fail?"_

"_You cannot keep living in that doubt or you _will_ fail. You are a strong warrior who has seen more than any other Avatar, and now it is time for you to again to be brave. You have faced him which gives you an advantage in what to expect." _

_This still didn't seem to help him; instead it kind of made the pressure increase a little bit more. If he chooses to go, every second in there will make him more vulnerable not only to himself, but his friends and loved ones. Roku was right about one thing; everyday was a risk, so why couldn't he take on the faith?_

"_Do you remember what I told you when you were floating on that piece of driftwood in the middle of that storm?" Roku asked, recalling that day very well for another spirit had come to help guide his pathway in the ocean._

_He nodded, "you pretty much said that I inherited your problems and mistakes, but that you believed me to save the world and that I was destined to succeed."_

_The white bearded man then said, "and I still believe in you."_

"_Even though there have been times when I have not listened to your words?"_

_This for some reason made him start to chuckle, "you are the Avatar now. I can help guide you if you need it, but in the end _you_ will be the one making the final decision; just as you did with Ozai."_

"_And look where that got me…"_

"_That is not what I meant either; look at what I did by not stopping Sozin sooner. We all make choices, and the effects of those decisions, good or evil, will act as a pebble dropped in the water; ripples that will continue forever. But I know you already know of this."_

_Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "I understand very much Avatar Roku, and I believe you are right. I have no choice, but to see Koh. Perhaps he will have the answers I am seeking."_

_Roku gave him an approving smile, "the decision is yours alone for you will face him on your own. Show no fear, or emotion of any kind."_

_The Monk agreed with him and was about to turn and look for the fearful face stealer, but decided to ask another question. "Why is it that you disapprove of my relationship with Katara? She has always been the one there for me as well as being my best friend."_

_The tall man placed his hands into his sleeves as if it was too cold for him, "…when I died in that day, I forever saw all that happened with Ta Mi. I saw her weep for my death every day, whispering how much she missed me, waking up from nightmares as she reached over for comfort and found an empty bed next to her, or how she would eat alone with no one across from her. As a Spirit, even an Avatar Spirit, you still watch all that happens to those you left behind. I know Katara is an amazing girl, but the reason I say all of that is because I don't want her to suffer as Ta Mi did. I would never wish that upon anyone, not even upon my worst enemies."_

_Aang had never understood his disapproval for her, but he had been always concerned for her safety just as he was. "I know what you mean Roku; I too suffer with that every day as you well know. There is not a day that goes by where I think I am doing the wrong thing in being with her, but when I think of living without her I feel as if someone keeps punching me in the stomach without first catching my breath."_

_Roku concurred, "yes. Being in love is difficult and wonderful at times. I just don't want you to make my mistakes; even though death is a part of life."_

"_Don't forget that you saved not only her life, but the lives of others in your village as well. You did it, because you loved her and if it comes to that moment, I would not hesitate to make the same sacrifice. And even though I would miss her dearly, I know Katara would do the same for me as well."_

_He gave him a gentle smile, "do what you must Avatar Aang. I am forever happy that you have found someone to give your heart to. Never take that for granted."_

_The bald Monk bowed to him once more, "that is a promise I believe I can keep. Thank you for your wisdom Roku. Maybe one day I will be as wise you."_

"_You already are. Now go, it's time you find yourself some answers."_

_Aang thanked him again and left to find Koh. He walked through the swamp, jumping from tree to tree until he at long last came to the one; a large leafless tree. It was still just as big and dark as he remembered; only it seemed much worse. He looked around for any animals and found no curly tailed monkey this time to his disappointment. The Airbender looked down the giant pathway that led down to his tunnel of terror where he showed him many unforgettable faces, but he especially recalled the one woman named Ummi. Come to find out she was Avatar Kuruk's fiancée', and he never got the opportunity to marry her, because he neglected his duties as the Avatar even after he was warned. Aang ran into Kuruk during the time of his coma from Azula's lightning strike and told him of Koh stealing her face; in which he vowed to keep hunting him until they were reunited once again. The Monk wondered if he wasn't successful in his duty as the Avatar, would it give Koh motivation to steal someone's face that he loved too?_

_The Airbender shook off the idea with a hint of terror growing for Katara's safety, taking a deep breath in and exhaling it out to calm his nerves. He walked down the pathway into Koh's lair, still feeling calm with the dark shadows jumping everywhere; knowing that the Spirit was somewhere hidden to try and scare him again. Aang slowed his pace down to listen to the sound of a creature near, but heard nothing. He ventured deeper into the tree as he stopped to look behind him, smelling the roots of dirt and water all around him and then turned to face forward again; and finally saw the female Noh mask inches from him with the body of a centipede. He showed no emotion to Koh, trying to imitate Mai in this manner._

"_Welcome again Avatar!" _

_His voice was like dozens of scorpion cockroaches crawling against your skin, feeling it's every leg lifting off your skin with its venomous stinger dragging across your body ready to inject the poison. Even though he was in the spirit world he could still feel the fast pace of his heart as well as the goose bumps that ran all over his body, but Aang still showed no hint of concern. _

_The Monk bowed as he always did, "thank you." _

"_I knew we would meet again Avatar. I see that you have changed much from that little boy I recall upon seeing, but still a child none the less. Would you like to be a part of my collection of faces this time?" He asked menacingly while changing his face to a blue oni face, making Aang think of Zuko's 'Blue Spirit' mask. _

_He shook his head with boredom showing, "I have come to ask another question; one that requires the knowledgeable Spirit."_

_It chuckled, "speak young Avatar for it may be your last words."_

_Aang swallowed the saliva in his mouth, "what do you know of Energybending?"_

_Koh thought about it for a second as his hind legs began to whirl around the young boys body, "I do. It was something that was done before the era of the Avatars. You would not bend the elements like you would today, but the energy within yourselves."_

_That was the exact replica of what the Lion Turtle had told him. He wondered if he was perhaps older than the animal that helped him in understanding energybending. "I wish to seek the answer to removing a certain spirit after energybending him." Suddenly, Aang felt the centipedes body rub up against his lower back, feelings it smooth cold bug like features. His heart started to beat faster and again put on the face of Mai once he felt it._

_The creature crawled backwards behind him until he was next to his ear and whispered into it like a child telling a secret."You wish to rid the spirit that runs through your veins?" _

_Aang clenched his jaw at the closeness of Koh, "that is what I have asked."_

_It inched to face him at immense speed of a new face of a blue-nosed Mandrills face, and tried to use its animal voice to make him jump. But Aang acted unimpressed. "There is but one way to rid the Spirit forever, but it would be a handsome price for it." Koh licked his face as if he was enjoying the question that was about to come next._

"_What is the price that must be paid?"_

"_It is only one word, but it's amazing how that one word is the key to this."_

"_Which is?"_

_He gave a devilish smile with all sharp showing, "death."_

_Now the fear came, but Aang shut if off quickly before he showed it. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath before letting it out. He knew what he was asking for, but wanted clarification anyway. "Whose death?" _

_The face changed to the man with a bearded mustache that had the wrinkles of a man who never smiled, but always frowned. "Yours of course."_

"…_I don't believe you. A Guru knew how to get it out of me, so there must be another option."_

_His smile didn't vanish, "why do you think he did not show you? The last Airbender, killed just to be rid of a spirit? There was no plan! Death is the only ally to what you seek!"_

_Aang felt his hands go into a ball as he thought of Guru Pathik and how he never once told him of the procedure of removing a spirit permanently. If what Koh was saying is true, then why would he keep him hidden for so long? Why would he hold back this much information? He would ask every day how he was going to be rid of Ozai, and every day the Guru would tell him to be patient. Was there really no truth to his promising words?_

"_Oh and there is one more thing I must mention."_

_The Monk looked up into its blue eyes of an old balm man with long white eyebrows and a mustache, "the spirit must be the one killed, not you."_

_He tried to show no confusion trying to decipher if he meant that they would have to kill Ozai too for this to work. "I will not kill another man just to save myself."_

"_I wasn't talking about that. If _you_ are killed, the spirit will live on through next Avatars, because you will still posses him. And you will have died for nothing."_

"_So, you are saying that he _has_ to take over my body in order to truly be rid of him?"_

_His face changed to an owl, "If he dies in the human form, you will be rid of it. And of course you still die no matter what, but the Spirit will be lifted off of you."_

_The Guru never had the intention of ridding it out of him, but wanted to help control it instead. He could feel his neck muscles getting tensed up from holding back his scream and emotions. "No matter what happens, I die either way."_

_Koh moved closer to him again and changing back to the Noh mask, "But it must be the right death, or the next three generations of Avatars will suffer for your mistake!"_

"_But what if someone could bring me back to life?" he asked, thinking of Katara using blue liquid from the Oasis. Perhaps it wouldn't as bad as he thought._

_The centipede gave him a knife stabbing crooked grin, "would not matter. Spirit water brings back all those that is apart of the Avatar's, including the evil side that posses you now. No, you cannot cheat death twice young Airbender."_

_So much was going through his mind now, comprehending his dreams, the premonition, Guru Pathik taking him far away from his friends; was it all truly for nothing? Every lesson that was taught to him seemed so meaningless and a complete waste of a year and a half of his time away from Katara and his friends. He could feel his eyes burning up and that when he knew that he needed to leave before his emotions showed. His body felt like it was about to go into shock from all that was told to him, and he felt like puking right there. _

"_Thank you for your knowledge. It has helped me." Aang bowed one more time upon Ummi's face. Instantly, he thought of Katara. Though the faces were very different, she was still Water Tribe. He would never be able to be with the woman he loved like he was hoping for, just like Kuruk. Aang started to walk out and heard his words again like lighting shooting at him again from Azula. _

"_I'll see you in the Spirit World young Avatar, very soon. I can assure you."_

_The Airbender continued walking until he was completely out of sight and his territory, feeling alone again with no other animal Spirits around. Aang continued running through the swampy waters, breathing hard and then tripped on a tree root that was hidden in the liquids camouflage. He fell into the slimy water and popped back up quickly to catch his breath, and then he stood up only to be looking at his reflection in the water. The bald Monk saw his fearful face, eyes that were red from crying, his spiritual self felt weak and starting to become vulnerable to Ozai. He quickly gained back some control and jumped onto a tree limb and began to focus like he had never done before in a hurry to get back to the world. A world where all seemed lost to him now._

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang opened his eyes slowly, as if night was vanishing from a sunrise. He looked around to still find himself in the same cabin he was in, with light shining through the giant trees. By his guess he would say it was late in the midday, and he was in the Spirit world for about fourteen hours when in only seemed like minutes in the other world. The Airbender felt a salty tear reach his mouth without his acknowledgement in which he quickly wiped it away, as well as some of the sweat on his head and body. He sat there for a few more minutes, taking it all into consideration. Pondering if he should tell them of what Koh said or not. So far, keeping things from them seemed pretty ridiculous after allowing the others into his past. However, he still felt compelled not to say anything either, but they needed to know. The gang needed to be prepared to do what was necessary when the time came, even if it meant he would have to go and wait for them in the Spirit World. How could he tell them though? What is the best way say that one of you will have to kill me, because you will be saving future generations as well as yourself? Oh and he was brought back to life, then it would start all over again.

Aang put his head in between his hands feeling a powerful migraine coming on and the heat inside of the room was becoming too unbearable for him. He removed his hands to see a bowl of bright red litchi nuts at the foot of him, with a small note that said: _Went to do laundry, be back soon. This is for you in case you wake up while I'm gone. -Love Katara_

The Monk felt his right lip curl a little at the generosity of his girlfriend, and just how amazing it was to have her there. He was reminded of some of the folk tales that he learned about; where the Hero dies in order to save all that he dearly loved. "_What a great way to go,"_ Aang thought to himself, but truly hated the idea of a cliché happening to him. He had been separated from her and his friends for so long that it killed him on the inside, and now it seemed that his happiness would never come true. But he would see to it to make sure that Katara, as well as everyone else, could be able to live a life of no more wars. It was a promise he made a long time ago, and he meant it when he said it…now he just needed to tell them. But if they weren't coming with him then he was only going to tell Zuko and Sokka. He needed to leave Katara out of it this time, just so that she can try and be happy for a little while longer without worrying so much.

The bald Airbender picked up the small red circle form the cracked bowl and started to pull off the layer of the litchi to get to the white interior of it. He quickly tossed it into his mouth, tasting the fusion of strawberries, watermelon, and grapes; a wonderful combination for any vegetarian. He peeled another and tossed it into his mouth until all of them were gone. Once he was done he sat there is his dark silence. The problem he had didn't go away, and it seemed like he was just doomed for misery. Aang sighed and quickly got up, feeling the soreness of sitting too long on the floor. He stretched out his muscles while feeling a sense of oxygen spreading throughout his body in a magnificent way. The Monk grabbed hold of his staff and walked out of the tiny cabin. He breathed in the fresh air of the fall season, aware that the winter solstice was very near. Last year he didn't have to worry about it, because the Guru was there to help him. Now that he was on his own, he didn't know what was going to happen. This was the time where the lines of the Spirit World would vanish, and he didn't know what to expect.

Aang shook it from his mind and walked around for a little while, happy to see that all of the Gang's things were still around. Sokka and Suki were helping train some kids on how to defend themselves with or without a sword; Sokka was the dummy. Toph was teaching them secret ways to listen to the earth without Earthbending. Surprisingly she was much more lenient towards them than she ever was with him. Teo was showing some inventions he was working on as well as helping fix some things for them, Zuko had Mai were talking to Pipsqueak and The Duke about something that he couldn't overhear. Everyone seemed to be doing something productive at least. He figured he should find Katara and perhaps give her a hand with the laundry. Who knows how long it might take to get the stench out of Sokka's socks…just the thought of it made him shiver all over. The young boy airbended his glider open and jumped straight into the air through the trees until he was home free to the blue sky.

It didn't take long to find her; it was especially easy to find her in her white bathing suit. The water itself made her skin look darker and even more beautifully soft to him. Aang shut his glider twenty feet in the air as he came down softly onto the ground. The brunette didn't seem to notice his presence after she grabbed someone's pants and dipped it down into the water. And for some reason when she bent down to the water, he found that his body was abruptly frozen. The bottoms of her swimsuit seemed to reveal more than he could possibly remember after being around her that year in his young life; they seemed much shorter to betray her amazingly luscious thighs to him. She had the curse of curves that would make any man go mad with insanity, while her long wet brown hair hung to her right side to reveal her strong soothing back. He could feel his heart beating like crazy and his stomach started to feel like it was turning on him so much that he could feel himself getting light headed, almost as if he was free falling again with her, but with a much stronger dosage of that nigh. That feeling never seemed to get old to him, no matter how many times it was played back in his head; he just couldn't shake the feeling of it. Katara felt eyes starring at her, causing her to reach one hand into the water to grab hold of a whip…the next thing Aang knew, he was knocked to the ground with his forehead throbbing in agony. The Monk felt wet hands grasp onto his face with water dripping onto his body. He moaned in pain of the water whip that he had helped show her, now he regretted it.

"Oh sweet spirits!" Katara yelled as she examined him, "are you okay Aang?"

He gave her a soft smile once he finally opened up his eyes to a bright sun just to the left of the Waterbender, "Sokka always said I was "whipped," guess he was right." He pushed himself off of the ground with the girl's hands helping him up while they both laughed. Aang rubbed his forehead where she had hit him, feeling it still sizzling from her surprise attack.

"I don't think that was the right situation to use that term, but I'm so sorry Aang! I didn't know it was you."

He still buffed his head, wishing the sting could go away. "Who else could it be?"

Katara sat down on the backs of her legs, "unfortunately I thought you were one of the boys who have been spying on me for the past few hours. They won't seem to leave me alone."

The Airbender shook his head as his eyes got a close up to her chest; rising up and down, or the way the water ran down off of her dark skin complexion. He still had that strange feeling growing inside of him, and a strange tingling feeling as well. "I can't blame them—" he thought, and then realized that he just spoke out his mind without consciously meaning to. His grey spheres went big once he saw the surprised look on her face.

"No, no! I mean they shouldn't do it at all, but it's hard to resist…no that's not right either! What I mean is that—"

She grinned at him, "you're cute when you get nervous. You tend to babble to try and fix it, but only seem to make it worse for yourself."

"Wha—I'm not babbling. I just didn't mean to say what I said without thinking it through. I'm sorry Katara."

Her smile still didn't fade, "you don't need to apologize to me every time you think you said something wrong."

"But I did…didn't I?" he asked, pondering if what he said was actually bad.

"Well it wasn't probably not the correct way to say it, but the _way_ you said it made it better." Her voice was like a sweet seductive noise to him, and he could swear that she could hear the fast pace of his blood.

He gulped nervously and quickly changed subjects, "_so_ you implied that you've had spy's dropping in on you?"

Katara sighed heavily with disappointment, but she stood up and helped him up as well. "Yeah. Just a bunch of boys giggling at me while I do my chores. They are all pretty young and harmless, but my real question is why?"

"Why—is it that they keep coming back?"

"Well, yea."

Aang studied her face to see if this was some kind of a trick question. She knew exactly why, but maybe she didn't see herself the way he and others did. Then again, Katara was never arrogant of how beautiful she was. He couldn't even remember a time when she doubted it either. Aang told her countless times how gorgeous she was, but that wasn't the answer she was looking for from him. She wanted something from him for some reason, like a secret to be revealed.

"Are you _really_ asking about the boys or me in specification?"

The young girl shrugged innocently, "well now that you say it like _that_, I am curious."

He scoffed, "how about you let me help you with the laundry and I'll perhaps give you an idea of the answer you seek."

"Deal," she said with a sweet voice and tossed him a pair of pants.

Aang caught the clothes and started rubbing them together; it was one way to take his mind off of things. He was trying very hard not to think of it, but his promise to the Gang to keep no more secrets from them kept ringing in his head. How was he going to break the news to them? Most importantly, what will Katara think?

The Waterbender looked back up at the Monk and realized that he had stopped scrubbing while he starred at his reflection in the water. Obviously, something was up with him. Even when he was meditating she could sense his stress, and he seemed to be breathing harder in order to calm himself. She wanted to ask and she would later, but right now he didn't want to say anything just yet.

"Are you using your mind to clean those pants?"

He snapped out of it and gave a quick crooked smile, "if only chores were that easy."

Katara chuckled, "and if only other teenage boys were more like you."

"Like me?"

"Most teenage boys won't do chores, no matter how many times you ask them to do it."

"Really? I always thought it was the guy's job to take care of the girl."

This made her right lip curl, "well I wish more guys thought like that. But I guess I'm so used to doing things on my own, it doesn't really bother me anymore."

"Seems a little unfair to me."

"Not everyone is raised around Monks Aang, but I'm very lucky have a boyfriend who is willing to help me without being asked. Little things like that makes a girl appreciate a guy more."

Aang dipped the pants back into the water, this time determined to continue to make her happy. "I'm sure Higen was nice enough to help you out?" He didn't know why that seemed to slip out. It not only caught her off guard, but him as well.

She stopped washing, "what does Higen have to do with this?"

He tried to shrug it off, "I don't know…he was there for you when I wasn't, and you two are still talking—"

"Is this because of the letter that he sent me?" she interrupted him, cutting to the chase.

To be honest he wasn't even thinking of that right now, but once she brought it up he did become curious. "That's not where I was getting at Katara. What I was saying is that he was more than a friend to you at some points, and I just wanted to know if he treated you honorably. Like helping you out with the chores?"

The blue eyed girl sighed against the heat of the sun that was penetrating on her skin while she walked over to the tree line filled with other clothes, air drying against the small breeze. She walked back and picked up one of Mai's shirts and started cleaning again. "Yes. Yes he was kind enough to help me, not only with the chores, but also with everything else I went through."

Aang nodded without looking at her, "and I know I will forever live with the consequences of my actions. If there is one thing I am thankful for, it was that Higen was there for you; both as a friend and obviously something more than that at one point. I don't care about the letter either Katara, I know you are probably still friends and I'm not going to tell you who should or shouldn't be friends with. I just want to know if he took care of you. That's all."

The young woman studied his tired face and could detect that there was not hint of jealousy, but he just wanted the truth. Katara gave him a gracious half grin, "he was good to me and I ended up hurting him when I chose you over him."

Aang squeezed the water out of the pants and looked back at her, "I don't know where I would be if you weren't here with me. You chose a person who gave you a hurt past over having a future with someone else who could help you forget about me."

She gave him a bewildering look at the idea of even attempting to forget about him. How could she forget about the little boy whom she save from the ice, who was always there for her, and most importantly the one person that truly made her whole. He had altered both she and her brothers lives in so many ways that it could not be forgotten. Even if Aang never came back and Higen and her ended up being engage, she knew deep within her heart she would have always imagined him there. With every kiss, every embrace, she would always and forever remember him; the lost boy who became the Avatar.

"It wasn't a hard choice for me. Granted I was infuriated at you, but I knew what I wanted in my life. And I was willing to risk the hurt again even if it meant I would never have you. I took the chance, because I knew I would always wonder 'what if' for the rest of my years. "

He moved his head up and down, seeing it all in her eyes. She took a chance with her heart, with the knowledge that he would possibly deny like he tried to, but he had always needed her. He was grateful for the risk, however, it seemed like it was going to be wasted. The bald boy headed over to the tree line to hang up the pants, and then he just pondered once the clothing was on the limb. His headache came back again, always much worse than last time; it felt like someone was trying to flatten his head with their bare hands. He groaned quietly in pain, causing himself to reach out to the tree limb to catch himself from falling. His body started to wobble a little with a strange shiver that made his muscles feel weak. Then he felt someone wrap around him, with a soft body touching up on parts of his naked back.

"Its okay I got you," Katara affirmed to him. "Is it the headaches again?"

Aang still clung to the branch as he placed his fingers on the upper part of his nose, "yeah."

"Here let me help you settle down near the tree trunk," she suggested. The Monk nodded, letting go of his grip and allowed the young girl to guide him to the ground, allowing his eyes stay closed off from the bright sun above them until he was under the shade.

"Just lean back and relax for a second."

The Avatar agreed to her terms, still feeling his headache growing stronger all over again. Abruptly, he felt cool watered hands on the side of his head. The feel was like a waterfall splashing through his mind during a hot summer's day; it was cool and refreshing. Her hands continued to stroke through his bald head as the feeling of his pain began to disintegrate finally. Katara saw an amused look form on his lips, knowing that it was working.

He opened up his eyes and saw her straight damp hair dangling around his face, and then his grey spheres seemed to slowly travel down to her chest again as it rose up and down. For some reason he just couldn't take his eyes off of it, it seemed to have captivated his undivided attention. Even the drops of water themselves didn't mind sliding down her body to prove a point.

The blue eyed girl didn't have to follow his eyes to know where he was looking, and it took every bit of her strength to bite down on her lower lip while she held back a smile. She then helped the poor helpless boy up from the ground, and let him lean his back against the trunk of the tree. Once he had the strength, his gaze still hadn't left her chest; it was like he had never seen her in the swimsuit. Then again she had made a few modifications since she had gotten older, but she didn't think it was too drastic.

"Why don't you stay here and let me finish up real quick?"

He finally snapped out of the daze he was in, "huh?"

This time she couldn't stop from grinning, "I'm going to finish up and you stay right here. Okay?"

"But I want to help."

Her left eyebrow rose up, "you still want to help?"

"Well, yeah."

The Waterbender thought about if for a few seconds, "if you want to _really_ help me then your shirt and pants while you stay right here. It won't take long and you can airbend them dry if you'd like to."

Aang was trying to figure out if this was suppose to be a trick, but then knew it was time to get it cleaned again. He stripped down for her; handing her his pants and then his somewhat of a lesser airbending shirt. Katara grabbed his stuff and then walked back to the water to finish up what she began while he just stood there with his arms crossed as she did his close for him. From this view he could appreciate her far more, but it wasn't like all of the other times he felt. It was something much stronger and amazing feeling, and yet he felt confused at the same time; it's like the Waterbender triggered some other side of him.

It didn't take her long to finish up his clothes once she walked back and handed it to him. He thanked her and blew his clothes dry and after that was done he put his pants back on and then placed his shirt up on a cut off limb. Katara continued to straighten out the clothes line that was a little bit taller than her, and she seemed to be having some trouble with one of the tops that was snagged to something. Aang walked over close behind her, with his body touching her back as he reached over her and helped straighten them out for her. The young girl could feel the heat onto her exposed skin while his arms hovered above her, in which she intentionally scooted closer to him. His arms stopped above her and then slowly came to rest on her shoulders where it connected to her neck. He gently put all of her amber hair into his hands, placing it all on her left side as the grip of his hands grasped at her muscles stressed muscles.

He began to rub them tenderly, not wanting to hurt her. Katara's head started to slowly go sideways a little bit by the rhythm of his hands, making her eyes close while she felt the massage that she didn't know was needed. A giant smile formed as he continued, feeling of his hands start slip down her arms with the touch of his chiseled chest pressed up against her vulnerable skin. Warm lips began rub on her shoulders, causing the girl craned her neck to the left to allow him more room; he didn't hesitate. His boiling lips treaded up to her ear lobe and placed it in between his teeth, benevolently starting to nibble on it. He heard a small moan of approval from the dark skinned girl, and then he traveled back down to her shoulders. Katara raised her left arm up to reach for his neck and bring him closer. His kisses then went up her arms _very_ slowly, making a pleasurable sound come out of her again as he tasted the water from her skin. The traveling didn't stop there, as the butterfly lips started back down her arm and to her back until he was kissing in between her shoulder blades, feeling his warm breathing on her skin. His hands slithered from her sides to around her stomach, causing her heart to beat even faster while they continued searching a little bit lower. She couldn't take it anymore.

Katara turned to face him in which he instantly caught hold of her lips, quickly slipping her tongue into his mouth while he placed his hands even lower on her hips once she wrapped her arms around his neck. Aang began to move his feet as they still continued to kiss each other until he was able to find the bark of the tree with his extended right hand and then he gracefully pressed her up against it. He took a breather as she did too, and consumed themselves in their passion for one another. Things between them started to get hotter between them both, causing the Waterbender to accidentally breathe out her ice air into his mouth and making him back off for a second. He looked up down at her sapphire spheres, feeling the sensation of the cool air coursing through his fiery body.

"Do that again," he whispered before he brushed up against her lips once again.

He opened his mouth up to her as she blew the frosty air into him, causing him a sensational shiver. And without intentionally thinking about it, he picked up the slender girl from her legs and pushed her up against the tree harder this time. It was the first time he ever got to just hold her fine thighs in his hands, and it was the most electrifying feeling to finally hold them. Katara was shocked at his motive, but didn't bother to stop him after she wrapped her legs around his back. He caught hold of the bottom of her lips and sucked on it repeatedly, resulting in another soft sound from her. Aang didn't know what was going on with him. He wasn't normally like this with the Waterbender, but for some reason he just couldn't stop. He only wanted more and more from her. He started to kiss her neck again, and traveled down to her collar bone; feeling every bump and valley there. He ventured down a little bit lower, but Katara stopped him and pulled his face back into hers.

She felt Aang let go of her from underneath to only make her grip tighten around his waist and neck. His hands proceeded to exploring her exposed back; she felt more comfort from his hands than what the tree was doing for her. Their rapture for each other didn't seem to want to cease, and neither of them wanted it to end either. They were everything to each other; life, breath, water, and the hunger that would always be there within them. Aang went back to caressing her neck again while his hands slipped underneath the top of her swimsuit, feeling the skin that he had never once claimed on her before. And then he started scanning for the knot that seemed to hold it all together, not even realizing that he was doing it. The Waterbender's eyes opened up as she recognized that his motives were about to head down a road that she desired and could see that he did too now, but a part of her warned her. She ignored the signal completely once he started to get a little friskier with her and her conscious continued to knock at the back of her head, until the Airbender found what he was looking for.

"Aang…" she whispered, and could tell that he didn't hear her. She said his name louder, but still no response. He must've thought she wanted more after calling his name, because he quickly started fiddling with the knot of her top. She could feel it loosening and it needed to stop. This time she yelled his name out, "Aang!" The way her voice said it made him quickly stop. He finally comprehended why she did it.

He just looked up at the angel face, not understanding how it all went from a massage to the position he had put them in. The Monk backed off from the tree, and then placed his hands back at the middle of the waist; too afraid if they were any higher or lower he would offend her. Aang didn't take his eyes off of her face, but the shame of what he almost did started to consume him. Her legs loosened up around him, allowing Aang finally place her down onto the ground. He quickly released her from his grip and took a few steps back away, astonished at the rhythm of his own breathing. Katara promptly reached to the back of her top, and was relieved that he had loosened it all the way. It had one more strand left before he could've taken it all off, but she was happy and yet disappointed it didn't happen. Aang still looked at her with his mind rushing through everything that had occurred and how easy and fast everything got between them, and if not for Katara stopping him he would've done the one thing that could've messed everything up. But why was it that he still longed for it? Yes, he did have those moments when he was around the older teen girl; however, it was nothing like _this_. The impulse of it all still clung like a spider fly web on your arm, and no matter how many times you swatted it away it would still lingered to you.

The blue eyed girl could see that he was at a loss for not only words, but his intents as well. He took another step back and then squatted down onto his calves, hanging his head onto the ground with his hands around his neck. He looked stressed out again, but she could sense that there was something else he was hiding. She didn't know why she thought this and didn't care right now; she needed to say something to him. Aang still sat there in the uncomfortable position, feeling his legs going numb and hurting. He still couldn't understand why he went as far as he did; could it have been because of what he had just learned from Koh? He was already willing to sacrifice his life for his friends, but now that it was coming true, he felt even more alone than ever. There was no way out of it this time; his life was going to have to be taken by one of them. No one else could even get close enough to him in a fight like the others; they knew his every thought, moves, and style in a fight. He would rather die by the hand of a friend than a stranger.

The Monk finally looked up at the girl in front of him who didn't seem angry at him or even disappointed, but there was a confused look none the less. He stood up from his position with the relief flowing through his uncomfortable legs, but he quickly looked away from her. Instead, he just went walked past her and got his airbending clothes and wrapped it around his shoulder. A cool hand grasped onto his, forcing him to turn and face the lovely girl. Still the only thing he felt was shame and stupidity for what they _almost_ could've done.

Katara gave him a simple smile, "you're just full of surprises aren't you?" He looked at her, but there seemed to be no subtle hint of a grin wanting to form his face.

The bald headed boy wanted to hide from her or wished he could go back in time to stop himself from ever doing that. He had no good reason for what he almost did, and every time he continued to play it over and over in his head he felt even worse. Aang removed his arm from her hand, "I'm so sorry…"

Then he turned around and left her there alone, now more than ever confused. He disappeared behind the shadows of the tree that covered him like clothing in the winter time, shielding him from any good of the light. The Airbender kept on walking, telling himself not to cry over and over again; the pain in his stomach began to hurt. It was the same feeling he got when he knew he had to leave Katara and their friends, a choice that wasn't simple, but none the less a necessity. He needed to tell them all of the news he had heard, this shouldn't be something kept from them. They need to know what the 'rules' are. Aang found himself a tree to lean on for a few seconds while he caught his breath, then he placed the side of his head on it; feeling its rough edges. His world continued to crumble around him, and no matter how hard he fought, it seemed that there was no light at the end of the tunnel…but how could he give up so easily when he knew what was on the line?

OooooOooooOoooo

The Gang stayed for another few days, trying to rest up for their next destination to Omashu. Aang knew all of this traveling was hard on them sometimes, never being able to stay in one spot for long anymore. There were days when he felt selfish for letting all of them come along, but then again he was always grateful to have family around. Katara and he hadn't spoken much since the day by the river, and he just wasn't ready to tell her, or any of them for that matter, what was going on with him. Instead, his mind had been on Bumi a lot lately, especially since he found out that his friend was ill, or old, as the letter had so sincerely put it. His friend was one of the strongest people he knew, especially for his age, he taught him that not everything is as it seems. He learned that when he was willing to fight _him_ over the giant guy with the ax and a very crafty swordsman, he always did have a way of "fun" way of messing with him. Sometimes the best way to remember things is how they show you; his old friend was really good at doing just that.

Once their gear was packed and ready for flying, they wished their friends the best of luck and to be careful. Zuko also told them to try and stay in contact with each other since there was a possibility of a war coming, and they were going to need good people around them when that time came. They said their goodbyes one last time and took off, leaving behind yet another clan in order to help save the world.

Most people would enjoy being the hero; getting all of the attention, Toph always did, but unfortunately they truly don't understand what it means to be the Avatar. Aang never like being this person, or a God as some would say, like anyone else in his shoes he wanted a normal life. To go to a town and not be recognized by his tattoos, people always asking for his help or giving them advice, trying to fix something that may never be fixed, the pressures of the world all around him; it was all just _so_ overwhelming. Some people would thrive on this stuff, but after being like this for some years now it all seemed like a waking nightmare that you could never wake from. You always see the Hero helping, but no one seems to be able to help him. Yes he had his friends, and they were wonderful to him, but then again they just couldn't truly help him; no one could. He was just a young kid who was lost in his own shadow, and it seemed that he couldn't get out of it.

"Aang, do you know where you are going?" Sokka asked, breaking his train of thought.

The Monk looked back, "I know it's to the east."

"Then why are we heading southeast then, instead of Omashu?"

"…call it instincts."

Katara's brother gave him a smug look, "oh yea, really funny airhead! Any particular reason your instincts are calling you The Great Divide"

"How about you let me do _my_ job and I'll ask you when I need _your_ assistance! Deal?"

The Water Tribe Warrior was shocked by his reaction and felt like saying something smart to him, but by the look of Aang he wasn't in the mood to argue. He backed off the Avatar and sat back with his friends, happy to have Jet gagged once. He hadn't caused them much trouble since Katara popped his arm back into his socket—twice just for the fun of it. The Traitor seemed to still be in a lot of pain, at least the beads of sweat around his upper lips and forehead that showed. It was also kind of nice to see him beaten up a little bit, even if Aang wasn't himself.

"So wad up with Twinkle Toes? Did someone put something in his grain of rice this morning?" Toph teased once he finally sat down.

He shrugged, "I guess we are heading towards The Great Divide?"

"Does he have a reason for that?" Zuko asked.

"He said he was relying on his instincts."

Jet gave them a haughty snicker, recalling that _that_ was the reason they all ended up meeting each other; Sokka and his instincts, kind of funny now that he thought about it.

"Shut up Jet!"

"What so funny?" Suki questioned him.

"The last time we relied on instincts, I kinda, sorda, got us into some trouble. Ended up walking into a Fire Nation camp, which was the reason we tried to avoid in the first place, and then we ended up being the distraction that Jet needed. But then again, my instincts did help save a small town so all I'm going to say is that sometimes it's right while other times it's not."

This time it was Toph's turn to snicker, "you would walk into a Fire Nation while trying to avoid them. That's just the kind of luck we have with you around." Sokka gave her a dirty look, but then again it didn't matter since she was blind.

"Aang seems to be in a bad mood since we left, anyone have an idea?" Teo asked them, and then they all turned their heads to the cross legged Waterbender.

Katara tightened up her jaw line, afraid to tell them about their little "laundry" problem. She and him hadn't really talked about it since that day, but then again he barely said anything to her in the past few days. "I honestly don't know. He just might be having a really bad couple day. He seems to be under a lot of pressure," she covered up for him as well as the hurt she was feeling.

Zuko combed through his shaggy hair, "I agree. After learning about my fathers spirit I am surprised he has lasted this long, I can't imagine how he is able to handle it." Mai nodded with him, understand that the physicality of his father was bad enough, she couldn't imagine how dark the spirit could be in someone as good and kind as Aang. It was obviously changing him.

Suki nodded too, "guess it's easy to forget what he's going through sometimes."

Aang couldn't hear all of their conversations due to the wind blowing in his ears, but every once in a while he would catch his name in there. He obviously knew they were talking about him; otherwise they wouldn't have cared to try so hard to maintain a whisper.

Katara looked over at the hunched over Monk; even judging by his back he was physically and emotionally drained. Everyday he woke up, even with just a few hours of sleep; he would try to survive that day without any other problems to worry about. She missed the young Aang that was so full of life, wanting to do kid stuff, learning new things from different masters, and just trying to find out who he was. The young girl believed that part of him still existed, other wise they would be seeing Ozai's wrath right about now. She was happy that she was able to help him control himself, but like he said how much longer could that last?

"Guys?" Teo asked for their attention, "what if there really isn't a way to help Aang? I'm not trying to be blunt about it. I'm just speaking what everyone is too afraid to ask."

For some reason Sokka recalled the night that Aang was dealing with Hei Bai, and how it seemed like an impossible thing for him to communicate with a spirit. Katara always seemed to have faith that he would pull something clever from that hard head of his, and as always he proved her right. Maybe they too just needed a little bit of faith as well.

"Aang is gonna be fine," he said drawing their eyes towards him. "He will find a way, he has to. He's the Avatar for crying out loud! He can talk to the dead, use all four bending abilities at the same time, and he learned how to do all of it in nine months from a bunch of kids like us. I think if anyone is capable of the impossible, it's Aang."

The Airbender didn't turn once he heard impossible and his name in the same sentence, instead he just tried to ignore them all without much success. They just couldn't fathom what he was going through, and he needed a place to let it all out without the chance of hurting one of his friends. That was the reason he was headed towards The Great Divide, he just wanted a chance to strike at something; this wasn't his normal methods of these kinds of issues, but it just needed to be done. Back in the old days he would just talk to his Gang and tell them exactly what was going on with him, and yet he was beginning to finally realize that those days of companionship and trust were over with. A part of them didn't trust him and he couldn't trust himself either, if you don't have the certainty in yourself then how can you have it in others?

His train of thought was disrupted when a giant hand touched his shoulders, even by the simple feel of them he knew they weren't Katara's. He used to be able to detect her presence so easily and now it seemed like that gift was slowly starting to fade away. Zuko sat next to him with plenty of space between them as they both looked out into the sky with the clouds below them to cover up the Bison. Momo sat in Aang's lap, sleeping away like the lazy lemur he was. The boys remained settled and quiet for a few minuets with the wind blowing in their faces and the sun resting upon their skins.

His friend was the first to break the silence, "did I ever tell you the reason I left all that I'd known and loved in order to join up with you?"

Aang still didn't look at him, but he acknowledged that he had no idea as to how or why. During that time when Zuko did arrive, Aang and his friends didn't want to have anything to do with him, but desperate times call for desperate measures. In the end he became his best friend, so when the time came to choose he figured he could give him a chance. He knew there was a difference in Zuko once he walked into his camp with no fire being thrown their way while chasing after all of them.

"I screwed up," he said, "I gave up everything that my Uncle and I had been working towards once Azula struck you down with her lightning. Though he was always willing to help me catch you, I think he knew I would never _truly_ capture you. You always were able to slip right through my fingers, and I never understood why that was. Even when I had you in the Southern Water Tribe I didn't know what I was supposed to do with you. I knew my punishment was to find and bring you back to my father, but I was always in a constant battle with my inner self."

"You mean like your conscious was telling you it was wrong to capture me?"

Zuko gave him a crooked smile, "not exactly. During the days when I knew that you had to be alive, I became even more lost and confused in my mind; telling my Uncle about it when he was imprisoned. Most of the time I would get angry at him when he didn't talk to me, but once he told me of my mothers grandfathers past I was finally able to find the stepping that eventually led me to you."

"I thought you already knew the past of your great grandfather?"

"So did I, but Uncle reminded me that I had two great grandfathers. My fathers, Azulon, and my mothers, Avatar Roku."

Aang's head snapped right at him like a sling shot with a widened look, "you are family to Avatar Roku?"

The Fire Lord removed a strand of hair from his face and acknowledged the truth, "I guess that's why I found you a lot of times, because spiritually you and I are family." He laughed a little and saw a smile creep onto Aang's face which disappeared just as fast. "I finally understood why I always fighting the inner fire within me. And after that, I chose to step aside as Prince and help you on your quest to defeating my father. I remember talking to a portrait of my mother, before I left, telling her that I had made _so_ many mistakes in the past and that now I was going to do the right thing. I walked away from it all that day, but she was the one that always made me want to be better."

"Your Mom sounds like an amazing woman Zuko, you and Katara's both do."

The scarred face young man's grin grew as he pulled out the picture of a time when he believed that they were once a family. There were times he wanted to burn it, like he did everything else, but for some reason he liked this portrait of them. "She really was, more than you can imagine."

Aang's eyes followed to the creased picture from being folded so many times, not being able to see the figures. "Is that her?" Zuko moved his head up and down and then he handed it over to him to see.

The Monk let go of the reigns and looked at it more closely, seeing the young Zuko sitting down in front of his father who had a hand on his small shoulder. Azula sat down in the same position too, but she was in front of a very beautiful woman. He looked closer at her, getting a feeling that he knew her and then he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. It all made sense to him! How could he forget those eyes of a worried Mother, or the face of a caring person who helped a stranger like him. She was so kind when he ran away from his friends, and more importantly they were spiritual family as well. Perhaps, that was why he felt like she was treating him like a son instead of someone else, but then again he believed she would have treated him just the same.

He gulped, "this is your mother?"

Zuko showed a real smile that only came when he thought of his mom, "yea! Why do you sound so surprised?"

"What's her name?" The Avatar asked urgently

He raised up an eyebrow, "Ursa?"

Aang felt his lips part as he tried to maintain a calm sense of presence in his face, but she was the mother Zuko had been searching for for so long! He found her, out of all of the men Zuko sent to out to find her out in the world, he just happen to stumble upon her "accidentally." If someone had ever told him that Destiny has a strange way of surprising you, this was a prime example. Now he could see the resemblance of his friend, those same amber eyes and black hair, they even had the same nose and chin. He looked back down at the photograph and then back again at the Fire Lord.

"You okay? You seem like you just saw a ghost or something?"

Aang shook off the notion and gave the picture back to him, "sorry…"

He took it out of his hands with care, "was it my father?"

The Monk didn't know what to say, a strong part of him wanted to tell him about his mother being alive and then again he wanted his friend to stay with him. Zuko had been a big help in his life, as did the others, but he always seemed a little bit different in a way. He was someone that he looked up to now as well as being a strong leader when he himself couldn't step up and do what was necessary. Aang needed to tell him, and yet he couldn't…this was the same type of situation he was put in when a messenger gave him the Rendezvous Map of Katara and Sokka's father. Even though he only hid the information for less than a day, they both hated what he did to them. Knowing full and well that they wanted to see their father and he was willing to hide the information from them out of selfishness and fear. At the time those two were all he had in the world and he didn't want to be alone, however, it almost cost him their friendship. He couldn't do that to Zuko, no matter how much he wanted him to stay he just couldn't this time.

"Aang?" Zuko asked to get his attention.

"Huh?"

"I said is it my father?"

He gave his friend a fake little laugh, "maybe a little bit."

"Look, I just wanted you to know that I have a small idea of what you are going through. I struggled with the good and evil inside of me for so long that there were days I wanted to just give up and be as ruthless as my father, just so I could please him. _That_ choice would've been easy, but I would've regretted it for the rest of my life. My point is that it's easier to fall into darkness than it is to fight and stay in the light, but the results are always worth it."

The Airbender looked out into the horizon understanding that perhaps he did understand what he was going through, but then again he really didn't. "Thanks."

He nodded towards him and patted him on the shoulder a couple of times, ready to leave. But then he turned back towards him, "you know, I remember the day my Mother left me. It was in the middle of the night and she woke me up from my sleep. At first I thought it was a dream, but now I always remember sadness of her face after she hugged me one last time and I recall her final words that she spoke over me. She told me, _"Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. Remember this Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are."_ I want you to remember that too Aang. My Mom was right about the changes of this world around us all, but we can't forget who we are."

"And who am I Zuko, if I can hardly look at myself anymore?" the bald Monk asked him, hoping for an answer of some sort of what he should do.

"Well, I suppose that's not up for me to decide my friend. Only you can know who you really are. And you will always have us near you man."

"…you sound like a fortune cookie," Aang joked and it seemed to ease the tension inside of him.

He patted him on the shoulder twice again, then got up and left him to ponder on his words as well as his Mothers. She was a wise woman to him and he wished he could talk to her again, tell her of all of his adventures, all the good and bad choices he made. The hard life of being the Fire Lord, marrying the woman he loved, and having the Avatar as his best friend. There were so many details he wished he could tell her. Many of his assistants told him that she was dead and that there was no point in looking of her anymore, but he always felt that she was alive somewhere. It was a big world to find just one person, but he wasn't willing to give up so easily. He would find her, which was a promise he intended on keeping. He sat next to Mai who seemed to be acting a little bit more tired lately, but still her normal self none the less.

He kissed her on the forehead, "you okay? You look a little green."

She gave him a scorning look, "green is such an ugly color."

He chuckled, "and you're still so beautiful when you hate the world."

Mai smiled, "I don't hate you."

"I don't hate you too."

Then he kissed her, but stopped once he heard a gagging sound coming to his right. He looked and found Toph mimicking the noise. He rolled his eyes at her and was ready to say something, but his wife turned his lips back over to hers before he could say it out loud. Teo gave a little nudge to his nonexclusive girlfriend with an amused smile that no one else saw, but even though Toph didn't see it either she could sense one from him. To her the best thing about being blind is that you see past all of the crap that people try to hide, and with Teo around he never shadowed anything from her. She loved that about him.

Katara looked around the group of her friends seeing that even under the circumstances they seemed to pull off being happy somehow, and it seemed to make her grin at them. She then looked over at Jet, and saw the discomfort on his face from the shoulder that she purposely popped back in twice. Seeing him there in that position, like a chained up wild animal, she started to sympathize for him. She reached into her pack and pulled out a small clothe and went over towards him wiping the sweat from his face, as she looked at him.

"Sorry about your shoulder," she whispered to him. "However, you kind of deserved it."

The wrinkles around his eyes showed, and then he just wished that she could see his smile. He knew he got what was coming, but if it meant getting the beating he got from Aang he would definitely do it again none the less.

"You know when you're not talking like the arrogant pig that you are, I don't mind doing this kind of stuff for you." Again he just nodded, "I wish we could trust you Jet, but I can't imagine we ever will." She said and then got up from her seat once her task was done and went back to her last spot. Realizing that everyone was looking at her, minus Aang.

"What?" she blurted out and then everyone went back to their own business.

By the time the sun was getting lower in the sky, the bald Airbender guided the giant Bison down towards the southern end of The Great Divide. It had been two and a half years since Katara had seen the sights of this place. It was amazing looking from the day time, but even more gorgeous at twilight time. Everyone jumped off of the Appa with their stuff, with Toph making a hard impression on the ground. Teo looked at her and saw a big kid grin form on her face, but it wasn't the same form after they both kissed finally.

"Now this is my kind of sanctuary," she spoke with pride while feeling the layout of the land with her feet. There were so many things she could do, and she wished she had known about this place much sooner. "Yup, this would be a perfect place for me to live in."

Her boyfriend chuckled, "this place is totally your style."

Everyone laughed at both of them, even Jet seemed to show a smile under that mask of his. Katara helped untie him with no trouble at all; however, she did hear him lament in some pain from his shoulder. She gave him an apologetic look and then guided the Traitor down Appa's tail with an Airbender watching her every move. He felt his hands tighten into a ball as he saw the way she was starting to actually show some care to him, and it made him sick to his stomach. The Waterbender and he hadn't really talked about what went that went down that day, and he knew better than to just walk away from something unsaid. He hurt her deeply and now she was starting to lean towards Jet for comfort…"_great_," he thought to himself. The girl handed the rope off to Suki to allow her to do her job, while everyone else did their part too.

Once the camp, and fire was set up the Waterbender started making dinner for everyone like she always did. This time she made seven flavored spice soup, something in which everyone could eat and sleep on a warm stomach. By the time they finished eating, the Gang started to head into their tents. Not much had been said that night; they were all still thinking of the Aang and spirit situation. The bald young boy was quiet as well and didn't sit in his normal spot next to Katara, instead he sat between Teo and Suki which made even more suspicion grow between them all; however, they knew better not to get into the business of those two. They would eventually work it out, but everyone hated it when they weren't getting along; it just put more tension between them all. Everyone headed into their tents, full and ready to get some sleep. Aang told Katara he wouldn't join her tonight and insisted that he'd sleep outside with Appa and Momo. He saw the impairment in her blue eyes that looked lighter than normal due to the moon, and he quickly turned away from her without receiving confirmation from her.

After a few hours of waiting patiently, Aang snuck into Sokka's tent to ravage through his "emergency snack pack" and was able to find some food that he could use. He placed it into the small bag that he had and left the camping area, running at his wind speed through the canyons till he reached the farthest point. He looked behind him to make sure no one was following him, he still felt like eyes were always watching him, but he figured it was just his superstition playing tricks on him. The Monk then dropped the food close to his feet, making a circle around himself and then he sat down in the middle of it all; closing his eyes and waiting for the opportune moment. He knew they could smell the meat he had surrounding him with, now it was just a matter of patience. Seconds went by, then minutes, until finally he felt five running out of their holes. He grinned when he felt another ten from his left, six more from his right, and another dozen in front of him. He stood with his eyes still closed while he waited until they were a few feet away from him, and then his fiery eyes opened.

He fought them off from the food around him; using every element possible without killing any of them. Aang let all of his anger out at them; he punched through them, kicked, jumped, and spun in the air between the creatures, rocks being thrown or swatted at them, and dragging them across the grounds and throwing them across the canyons as they broke through the towering boulders. He was happy to see that they were a lot stronger and could handle the hits he was banging out at them by using the rocks around him, which made him want to let even more of his wrath on them. The Avatar fell flat on his back and then rolled over on his stomach and popped up in his rock suit, punching harder this time at them as he sent them straight into the canyons. But they continued to try and fight him for the food and he was content to see that they weren't quitters. He hopped out of his armor and used his airbending on them as well as water at the same time. And lastly, he used all of his fire power upon them. Every ounce of anger, pain, torment, hurt, anguish, his future, Katara, his friends, and whatever else he was holding back was being released at the beasts. He could literally feel the touch of his Avatar spirits coursing through him, but it was not the same feeling of being in the Avatar phase. He continued to fight them all off until they were too afraid of him and ran back into their holes to hide. The flames seemed to scare them all away once his fire bombs became tunnels of fire being shooting out of his hand at the Canyon Crawlers.

He looked around the entire place to see the crumbled rocks, icicles, mud, and steam rising up from the ground with all the creatures scurrying away from him with haste. He hadn't even realized he was holding his own breath until he at long last let out the air in his lungs, and then his wobbly knees gave out as he hit the ground hard. As soon as he hit the floor, he felt regret for what he just did. He was raised to never hurt anyone or anything, but for once he didn't care. He just needed to let off some steam and this was his only chance at doing. He still regretted his actions. In a way the regret made him happy, because there was still a strong part of his airbending methods that had been encoded in him, and that a part of his personal self still lived. His rapid breathing hadn't ceased yet either, feeling sweat dripping down his spine as well as the rest of his body; this was the first time he had ever done so much since he learned of Ozai. Even though the others helped train him he was never truly able to show them all what he really could do for fear of hurting any of them, and for once it was nice just to let it all out. He looked around at all of the damages and realized that his strength and agilities had increased tenfold, causing more fear of himself. Luckily the crawlers had a strong skeletal structure, but if this was ever performed on a human they would have been killed very quickly.

Suddenly, he heard a strange slow and methodic clapping sound that echoed throughout the canyons as the sound bounced off the rocks. Aang looked around the atmosphere to see what was making the noise, and then his eyes caught a figure coming out of the shadows in the moonlight. It was Toph, continuing to clap slowly at his performance while he looked a little surprised to see her, but should've known better.

"So I guess you've been holding out on us, haven't you Twinkle Toes?" She said while walking towards him still some yards away.

Aang got up from ground and stood tall over her, "I suppose you could hear all of that?"

"For a split second I thought I was hearing a battle being fought out here," the girl laughed at him.

The Monk wiped the salt water that dripped into his eye, causing it too sting just a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Didn't know sleeping was an option for us," Toph joked to lighten up his mood. It ended up working.

"Still I'm sorry if I woke you up; I just needed some time to myself."

"So—in order for you to do that, you came here to fight canyon crawlers just so you could get some "personal" time for yourself?"

He sighed, "well when you say it like that it sounds stupid. I just really needed to blow off some steam."

"No pun intended," the blind girl said feeling the heat rising off the ground and kind of making Aang laugh a little. "Was this the reason you wanted to come here? To make sure we didn't see you like this?"

A bead of sweat ran down his nose, "it was the only I could do it. And I didn't want any of you seeing me like this, because it would only make all of you all the more…" He didn't finish his sentence, but instead Toph finished it for him.

"…afraid of you?"

The Airbender looked at the ground, "yeah. I guess I'm just tired of you all looking at me like I'm a freak."

"Well not to be blunt, but you kinda are."

"Ha-Ha," he mocked at her. "Sometimes I wish I didn't come back, and I wonder if I hadn't come back would you all be a lot happier." Then he instantly felt a rock hard punch into his chest, causing him to fall hard to the ground. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For even thinking that!"

Aang got up slowly, "well you didn't have to sucker punch me to make your point."

"Obviously I do. You need to remember who your friends are Aang, what _we_ gave up so we could help you. When you left it hurt us all, especially me, because I couldn't beat the living crap out of you for doing it in the first place! The only fear we had of you was the thought of never seeing you again."

"But things are different now Toph!"

The young teenage girl punched the ground with the right of her heel, and sent the Monk against the wall that was about twenty yards behind him, causing it to crack. Pain shot at the scar Azula made for him, and this time he decided to just stay down. Toph stomped hard towards him, determined to get something across to him. She stood tall and proud in front of him, with the moon grazing against her young youth skin, and then she stomped her foot again, this time popping him back up on his feet. She then got up in his personal bubble, looking for a fight and she pushed him back on his butt.

Aang was getting annoyed now, and popped back up even quicker. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Because that's life," she spoke with honesty and then pushed him against the wall as she flipped up a round rock and punched it his way, in which he easily broke with his hand. "I'm life Aang!" Toph said, and pushed him against the wall again, "stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight back, because I promise you that life is going to go on with or without you!"

"Stop it!" he yelled, but she continued to bully him in the corner. "I'm warning you!"

"You can talk the walk all you want to Twinkle Toes!" Toph proclaimed, and didn't stop slapping, pinching, flicking, or pushing him.

"That's enough!" Aang yelled and then pushed her back with his airbending, causing her to roll backwards onto the ground a couple of time, but she quickly pounced back onto her feet. The Monk got into his fighting stance and then in the distance he heard her start to laugh at him, causing him to relax for a little bit.

Toph started walking towards him, with Aang trying to decide on whether or not she was tricking him or not. Once she finally stood in front of him she then said, "I knew the old fighting Aang was in there somewhere, you just needed to find him again."

The Monk dropped his hands and stood up, "I never said I gave up fighting, Toph."

"You may have been thinking that, but you weren't acting like it. Life is going to screw us over time and time again, we are prime examples of that and I don't want to _see_ you screw it up even more. I probably don't understand what you're going, or even the others, but we want to help you. You're never alone in this fight Airhead, just remember that."

Aang gave her a crooked smile, "thanks Toph." He seemed to be getting that speech a lot lately; perhaps he should for once listen to what they were saying. It's one thing to listen to ones words and it's another way to hear them. She beckoned back at him and gave him another punch to the shoulder, this time he knew it was her way of showing him some love.

Then he looked around seeing the playground around them, "you wouldn't by any chance be willing to race to camp would ya?"

The Earthbender showed her white teethed, "I thought you'd never ask!"

"On three?" He asked her, and then agreed with him. They both got into their racing stances, ready to go. "One…"

"THREE!" she yelled and began to run with the hills of rocks under the command of her feet.

Dirt flew into Aang's face as he coughed it all out, but began chuckle once he took off after her while they "fought" their way to finishing line. Toph won of course due to the amount of cheating she did. Next time he would have to remember to place rules in their games, but he knew better than to do that. To her, rules were always meant to be broken. The Monk was pleased to be having a little bit of fun for once, even if it was just a small race, he really needed that little bit of kid in him to shine through once again.

OooooOooooOoooo

Toph and Aang got only a couple hours of sleep and it showed the next morning once it was time for breakfast, everyone else seemed rested up and loud. They packed up their gears after they ate and began to head east to Omashu, where the Monk could at long last see his old friend, Bumi. A part of him was scared, another seemed to not want to believe what Iroh said, and the other was side of him was just lost of words for his friend. The trip took about a day and a half to get there which wasn't too bad none the less. They flew over the three sturdy walls of Omashu, and once they landed near the Palace they were welcomed honorably.

A guard came to them and bowed to them all, and they all bowed back in respect. The man standing before him was young at age, but tried to hide it behind his black ducktail facial hair. "It's good that you have come at long. He has been asking for you for quite some time now Avatar Aang, we were afraid you never go the message."

"I apologize for the delay, but we only received your message six days ago. We took a small detour about a day and a half ago, which was why we we're so late."

He nodded, "well won't you please come in? I will show you to him right away." Then the young man caught look over the Avatars shoulders to see a metal man in bonds. "Is this a prisoner of yours?"

Aang looked back to Jet, seeing once again that Katara was holding onto the ropes. "You can say that. I was wondering if you can take him to the "new" chambers that was once "bad" please."

"Certainly," he said and then ordered the men behind him to obey his command. They then all headed up the stairs of the giant palace of King Bumi, once they reached the top Sokka fell to the ground from being out of breath. Suki knelt down next to him while everyone else stopped and looked back.

He tried to act like he wasn't tired, "I tripped! You guys go on; I think I may have a hurt ankle."

"Pft, some people just aren't cut for the earthbending world." Toph sarcastically joked at him, letting everyone crack a smile while holding back their laughs. Sokka wanted to kill her, and Suki just helped calm him as she helped her "pretended" hurt fiancé from the steps.

Aang couldn't stop himself from glancing at everything, recalling the last time he was here; the Fire Nation taking over this place as it was to be renamed "New Ozai", there was even a statue of Ozai being built, helping the people escape the captured city, as well the returning of Mai's little brother, Tom-Tom. That felt like ages ago now as it seemed somewhat peaceful here, a scene in which they all liked to see more of. It was hard enough getting through the three thick walls of this place so there probably wasn't much for them to worry about here. The inside of the palace felt warm and comforting, almost as if you were breathing in the sweet smell of early spring and it just made you want to sit under the shade of a tree and nap all day. They walked through many rooms, all as giant as Appa; Aang thought he could perhaps try and convince the guards to let him sleep here with them.

At last they reached a long hall with many of the Earthbending flags hung everywhere one both sides, with just a huge blank massive wall in front of them. In a way it reminded Aang of the time when Bumi made them go into the newly refurbished chamber, no doors or locks, just a kick into the wall and then a passage way is presented. It was the same deal here. The young guard stomped so hard into the rocks that the sounds of it echoed in the long halls of the Palace. At first nothing happened as they all just stood there, wondering if there was a password to be said as well. But then they felt the floor underneath them start to rumble and before it got worse the door lifted up so high that it disappeared up top. The Gang was about to walk in when their escort in front of them stepped into their way to the King Bumi's room.

"He only wishes to see you."

Aang raised an eyebrow with a curious emotion, but he looked back and gave a quick nod to them before he walked in by himself. He took one more step and the door came crumbling down far more quickly than it lifted, blocking his way between his friends. The room was very quant to his taste, but he didn't care much about the details at this point. Instead his eyes went straight at Bumi who was sleeping on a soft cushy bed with his face looking towards the ceiling, hands folding on top of one another near his stomach, and he wore his Kings robes that weren't purple this time. As the Monk looked at him it almost seemed like someone had placed him in that death looking way and it made his heart ache for his buddy. He started walking towards his old friend; the bed was about the height of his hips and looked comfortable. His friends breathing seemed to be almost painful to him. Bumi's face hadn't changed too much; still as old looking as ever, white hair still clung to show his age, with dark baggy eyes, but Aang still saw that little boy in him a hundred years ago. It was funny how he was able to open his mind to the possibilities of this world; he proved that when they went on their little ride down the worlds greatest slide. Now seeing him like this he felt like crying for his friend, seeing him in this much pain was absolutely horrible to him.

Bumi's eyes opened slowly with his raspy breathing he said, "Aang—is that you?" He reached his right hand out for him, not realizing he was on his right. It didn't take him long to realize that his friend had gone blind, however, his eye colors hadn't lightened up any.

The Airbender took hold of his friends leathery left hand, "yeah Bumi. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

His head turned towards him, "you always seem to come in the nick of time." He coughed so loud that he could have sworn that his people could've heard him.

Aang bent down with his neck just barely above the bed, "what do you mean?"

He smiled at him, "it's time for me to go Aang. I have done all that I can in this lifetime and now I am ready for the Spirits to take me."

The young boy couldn't hold back his tears, "no," he whispered to his friend. Usually he could always sense the passing of someone, but he wasn't getting that message with Bumi. Perhaps he wasn't as good at this as what he remembered. "I can't lose you Bumi. Not now, not when I am so vulnerable."

The King took a giant breath in that seemed to hurt, "you are meant for greatness Aang and I have faith that everything is going to work out for you my friend."

The scared little boy placed his other hand over Bumi's warm palms, "please!" He sniffled back his words feeling the walls inside of him about to crumble, "I need you Bumi."

His friend's eyes began to slowly shut, like two heavy rocks were hanging onto his eye lids. He then turned his head back to the ceiling as if he was seeing something there for the first time that he never noticed. "I am ready…" he breathed out his last words once his eyes finally closed.

Aang sat there too stunned to move as all of those walls that he built around his heart, to protect his friends at all cost, came crumbing down. He wanted to scream, but it seemed like no one would hear him over the loud silence surrounding him and his deceased friend. He let all of his tears flow now once he placed his head down on the bed, still grasping even tighter to the bony hands he held. Suddenly, he felt a twitch in those hands, causing him to look up at them and then his eyes went to Bumi who simply was holding back a laugh.

Those green eyes of his popped open and looked at Aang, "well I guess they aren't ready to take me just yet!" The old man spoke with no rasp in his voice, but instead began to manically laugh and snort at the joke that Aang fell for.

The Monk didn't say anything while he still held onto his friends' hand, trying to figure out if this was his mind playing tricks on him. The King continued to giggle at him, "You should've seen your face Aang! Oh, it was so priceless!"

The Airbender still didn't say anything for a few seconds and then, "so you weren't dying?"

Bumi sat up and took his left hand away from Aang before he hopped out of the bed like a twelve year old, "nope!"

After sitting there a few beats longer, Aang finally got up still a little bit wobbly from the emotional pain he had just experience. "You were messing with me?" he yelled out in anger, knowing better than to believe what Iroh said. "So you're not dying?"

"Oh I am indeed Aang, I'm just not dying at this very second though!" Bumi still held a smile for his friend, trying not to laugh about it, but couldn't help it.

"You scared the living day light out of me, only to tell me you were just joking with me?'

The King's grin still hadn't faded away, "what can I say. It's pretty fun messing with people, especially when you know they are dying!"

Aang wanted to yell at him, but instead he felt a giant relief on his heart. He too then began to chuckle a little bit until it became a belly laughing matter. He should've known Bumi would try and play a joke on him, especially one like this to be used against him. He was furious on so many levels and felt like punching him for making him go through that, but he just didn't have the heart to do it to him. Once they both caught their breaths they both gave each other a quick hug, patting one another hard on the back. Aang was now taller than him now since his friends sort of had a hunch, and together they just continued to giggle at what just happened a few seconds ago.

"If you ever do that to me again Bumi, I promise you that I'll personally deliver you to the Spirits myself." The Monk joked, but meant some of it to an extent.

His old buddy snickered, "I wouldn't put it past you my friend." He placed one hand on the young tired face in front of him, "now how about you help an old man to the dinner table and _lettuce_ have a feast in your return."

Aang nodded in confirmation, "I'm sure my friends would love to have royalty food once again. And would it be any consolation for us to shop and get some supplies around here?"

"My Kingdom is your home Avatar, my people will provide you and your friends with whatever they need. I'll personally see to that." Bumi then saw the grin of that twelve year old boy that he once remembered so many years ago it seemed, just before he gave him an Airbending bow. "Seems we have much to talk about Aang, and I also have some news that you might want to hear."

"About what?"

"An underground tournament."

The Avatar was confused, "why would I be interested in something like that?"

"Rumor has it that this is no ordinary tournament, but it was paid handsomely by an unknown name to see a death fight to any one with bending abilities. The man who is making it all happen is known as Tetsuya, a leader of a rival gang."

"Do you believe he is somehow connected to the Death Stalkers?" Aang questioned, trying to recall that particular from memory."

"It's a possibility, but no guarantee either."

"Do we know when or where this tournament will take place?"

"Within a fortnight at Tu Zin; it's an abandoned village some distance from Si Wong Desert."

Aang knew what place he was talking about. It was the same village where he had led Azula to by using Appa's fur that she and her girls had been using to track them down. Toph came back to help them, and Iroh ended up getting hurt from his nieces strike.

"Most definitely a secluded place," the Airbender recalled very well.

"From what I have heard, it's not so secluded anymore. My spy tells me that many strangers come there during the night time, but then he never sees them walk out. Iroh thought I should be the one to tell you this."

The bald headed tattoo boy crossed his arms as he sighed, "what's the prize for the winner?"

"Money of course."

"Seems too simple of a tournament to worry about then."

"Aang if there is anything I have taught you, it is that not everything is as it seems. Iroh believes you should check it out, perhaps give us some incite of who we are up against."

"And how do we get it in? They aren't going to just let the Avatar and his friends walk in on a bunch of murderers and thugs. Everyone knows what we look like."

"The price is two hundred gold pieces per person to participate in and a hundred silver for watching. No matter who you are, you will get with the right amount. But I would suggest that you and your friends blend in as much as possible just to be safe."

"Why hasn't Iroh sent his men to this tournament?"

"As I said before, no one has returned yet. We need your eyes there; you're the only one powerful enough to break out of there if things take a turn for the worse. What better way to deceive the deceiver than to send an unknown boy who is _not_ the Avatar? "

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to disguise myself and fight in a _deathly_ tournament, just to see if there is even a whiff of the Rebellions there?"

"Illusion is our best playing card right now Aang and it could possibly help us. If we capture one alive, then things could turn around for all of us. Could be one our few chances to see them slip up."

The young boy thought about it for a few seconds, looking at everything from a different point of view. This really could help them, and it was something that needed to be looked into anyways. He gave the older King a subtle smile, "Bumi, you are a mad genius."

**Okay, so a LOT has been revealed for you guys in this chapter and I hope you liked it! I decided to have a tournament just because it seems like it would be a different atmoshpere, plus get some more action in there for all of you guys out there as well. I will try and put up another story ASAP, and since it is summer perhaps I will have some time on my hands.**

**You all know what to do now! I read all comments as well as e-mails; whether you like or disliked my story I keep an open mind to all! Also, if any of you guys haven't been recieving my e-mails, please let me know! I think I got about 3-4 people asking me about some things recently, so please let me know if you haven't recieved anything.**

**Peace and Love Avatards**

**Sportie07**


	25. Plans Emerging

**Hey Avatards! Just to let everyone know this is my _One Year Anniversary_ with all of you! Technically it was the first of July, but I'm SO excited that I've made it this far! And thank you to all of my fans who were with me in my rough beginnings! We have come a long ways! :D**

** Hope that everyone's summer is going well so far! Thanks agianfor your MANY reviews that you guys posted last chapter ;) Kudos! You guys keep me inspired! So this chapter took me some time to do; I went up to Washington State for two weeks, and then I spent a few days looking at a University I might be heading to, so sorry again for the wait. Well this chapter is about 42 pages, I believe, so take your time and enjoy it!**

**I don't own anything of A:TLA, I'll leave that stuff up to the pro's ;) Also, for a heads up, if you see the word SAKE in the beginning please pronounce it SA:KI, it will make a whole lot more sense lol. I apologize ahead of time for ANY misspelled words, pronunciations, grammar, or repeats of words; I'm not a editor, just the author. (Recap of last chapter) Aang and Katara have some problems to deal with in their "physical area's", Aang has also learned of Zuko's mother, King Bumi plays a trick of death on Aang when they left Jet's home in the forest, and then we ended with an underground tournament that was a fortnight away once they landed in the Earth Kingdom. ENJOY...**

For the past week the Gang had been training even harder than normal; everyday they would wake up at the crack of dawn and practice against one another, eat and then train some more. Even Bumi was willing to help them all in these areas as well, in which Toph enjoyed fighting against one of the absolute best Earthbenders. Aang had been watching them all very closely while analyzing their stances and the way they prepare themselves for a certain attack. However, even with the distractions of this underground tournament he still couldn't get over what was going on with Katara and him. When they were around the group they would get along with each other, but once the two of them were alone they didn't say much. He obviously needed to talk to her and yet he wasn't too sure on how to explain his so called "actions". Now he had to seek the advice of the only companions that could help him in this area…

The boys had made themselves scarce from the girls, so that they could get some guy time for a few hours. They were all getting on each others nerves since the gang seemed to be arguing at one another for small errors, especially with the two loudest ones in the group; Sokka and Toph. To make matters even worse the Southern Warrior decided to ask if their "time of the month" was going on right now and that only seemed to ignite their fury within them. After that all of the boys ran as fast as they possibly could from the frightening women. However, Sokka ended up getting kicked in the air by, Toph and sending him screaming into a tree where his pants were caught in the limbs. For a few seconds he just hung there upside down, yelling at the blind girl; but he fell onto his head with a loud "oof" once he hit the grass. He quickly grabbed his pants and with great haste joined up with the guys, in which Sokka gave them an ear full of bro's having each other's backs, but they told him that if it was against four girls then he was lucky to still be alive after the stunt he pulled. They decided to head into town to get a few drinks to perhaps waste some time, and maybe even relax during this time

The tavern they walked into reminded Aang of the one where he ended up meeting June for the first time and paying her to take off for a week, which she gladly took the money from him. However, this place seemed to be a little bit more clean; not a bunch of guys hitting each other, gambling, arm wrestling, or just plain men who didn't know how to bathe. When they entered in there was only the owner and two more others who were playing pai sho; a game that the Fire Lord still didn't quite understand, but his Uncle loved it none the less. The boys found a stone table for them all to sit in, while Zuko ordered Sokka and him two jiu, some sake for the two youngsters and some bread to munch on as well as crispy pork.

The Water Tribe Warrior raised his cup to his friends, "bottoms up." He took the biggest gulp he could muster with the jiu and slammed wooden cup it back onto the table. Tears welled up in his eyes while feeling the affects of the drink; it was like he had paper cut that went all the way from his throat to his stomach and then decided to swallow Sozin's Comet afterwards.

Zuko took the next drink, obviously more atoned to it than the older one next to him. Teo sniffed at his sake, "what is this?"

"Just drink it all at once," Sokka demanded of him while he made the motion to order another round for the table, and decided to go for some pork.

The youngest shrugged and swallowed the drink within the first gulp, like he was told to. To him it tasted very fruity, but he could feel the lukewarm liquid as the strong taste of alcohol flowed to the bottom. He began to cough a lot in which he quickly grabbed a handful of bread to stuff into his mouth, now choking onto the food.

Sokka and Zuko had already taken another drink and were ready to order more. Aang had never seen the boys drink before, he wasn't too sure if he really should do it either. The Airbender had two drinks just sitting there in front of him, afraid that he might not be able to have it. The Fire Lord looked at him and saw that he hadn't taken a single sip.

"You better at least _act_ like you drink," Zuko whispered to his friend. Seeing that he didn't seem too into the whole idea of it, he figured he could provide a way out for him. Aang nodded at him and decided to bend the drink out of it very carefully, almost like a little river flowing out of the cup towards him and onto the ground.

"So I got a question for you Aangy boy!" Katara's brother slurred a little, but still seemed to be in control. "If we find these 'stalkers' what are we gonna do then? They always seem to be ten steps ahead of us."

The bald monk looked at his empty cup and took a drink out of it, making the same face that Teo did. He breathed out heavily as if it was really burning through him, "when I have the answer I will get back to you on that. We still have a week to plan this all out."

"I think what he is trying to ask is, are you going to do whatever it takes to win this tournament?" Teo translated for him and then put the next drink up.

"This isn't about winning guys. I only want to know what they look like and possibly talk to one of them."

Zuko shook his head, "so what are you going to ask? _Hi I'm the Avatar and I was wondering if we could have a polite conversation on the whereabouts of your rebellion, oh and on another note can I offer you some calming tea?_"

The grey eyed boy sighed, "look I don't know what I am going to do. It's going to be tough enough to get in there without someone recognizing us, and it may be even harder to get out. We need to look at every scenario first before we go to battle."

Sokka grabbed a few more fried pork's and stuffed them into his mouth, "seriously why can't you just give the whole _avatar_ thing a whirl? It would make things simpler."

"Just give me time, okay? You have trusted me this far and I hope I won't fail you again in that area, but we _have_ to be careful. These are not just ordinary firebenders; these are skilled people who will kill us out of spite or even for their own game, and I don't want to risk too much."

"Do you have a plan at all?" Teo hiccupped.

"I have an idea, but you guys aren't going to like it."

"Well tell us airhead!" Sokka blurted out. Luckily the two men playing pai sho didn't seem to show any care.

"How about I tell you all when your sober and can stand on your own two feet?"

"Whatever. It better be one hell of a plan then once I'm intoxicated…sober!" He corrected himself, and was starting to feel a bit woozy.

Aang didn't say anything else to them on the idea. He had already devised a plan and yet he knew they wouldn't go for it, but Bumi had agreed with him on it as well. With his oldest friend on his side they might just listen to him. But for now, until he found a better one he couldn't tell them until he and the King of Omashu looked from every point.

"Hey guys," Aang got their attention. "What can you tell me about relationships?"

Sokka spit the drink out into the Monks face, leaving a spray of jiu on his face. It started to sting in his that made him tear up, but he quickly bended it off of him and waited to hear what they had to say. "I am not drunk enough to talk about you and my sister…or rather I don't want that image in my mind—oh spirits! It's in my mind!"

The scarred young man took another drink and whispered to the warrior next to him, "you told me you were going to have the _talk_ with him?" Aang raised up an eyebrow in confusion to all of them, but Teo seemed to be in the loop of the conversation.

"..." Sokka had to think about the answer, "are you kidding? I'm still waiting for someone to have the _talk_ with me."

The Fire Lord combed through his hair with irritation, "well I don't know how to explain it either! I had a dad who hated me, burned my face, and then banished me to show just how much he loved me!"

"Well I had a dad who left me when I was fourteen and became more occupied by the war than having to worry about his son finding a girl in the Water Tribe that would just so happen to be his age!" The pony tailed boy said with a lot of heavy sarcasm.

"But don't you guys, you know, do it with your girls?"

Zuko and Sokka took another two drinks before answering him, even Teo kept his mouth shut. The Inventor knew what to say, but it seemed odd for him to tell this to another guy. His dad gave him the "talk" before and it wasn't a pretty thing to listen to in the first place, but now seeing Aang ask at an older age, he was happy that he knew. Still he couldn't help but show pity for the Monk.

"Well I'm married, so that gives me the right to. Yes."

Sokka burped, "and I'm engaged. We both have good reasons to do it."

Zuko snorted, "you two weren't engaged the night before Katara and I went looking for her mother's killer. What was your excuse then, _oh_ genius one?"

"Shut up you idiot!" Then the older boy pointed a finger at Aang like he was about to accuse him of something or worse threaten him. "…wait what was the question you asked again?"

The Airbender didn't know if he should ask it again, "nothing! Absolutely nothing."

"Are you sure?" his words slurred out horribly, the Monk might as well be trying to talk to a chimp right now. "'cause I coulda sworn you had asked a questions 'bout sleeping with a drink while Katara saw it…?"

"Ugh, Sokka how much have you had to drink tonight?" Aang asked, a little happy that he didn't quite ask the right question.

He shrugged, "maybe if you pull my finger we can find out!"

Zuko took his drink away that he was about to gulp down, "okay no more drinks for water tribe members." They hadn't realized how many small wooden cups were there until the oldest of them counted; he had only taken about six, not including the one he just took away from him.

Teo wasn't feeling too good either, "hey is my stomach supposed to feel all warm?"

"As long as you don't feel it coming down your leg, you're fine." The Fire Lord assured him and downed the cup that he took from Sokka.

The crazy Water Warrior stood up and took an empty cup into his hand, and decided to make a toast or at least attempt one. "To us! Our bro's before our hoes and…to peace on earth—an all of that lunar goodness crap!" He raised the cup higher than his head and drank the empty cup. The boy tilted his head back too far and then he fell to the floor hard, which he quickly curled up into a ball and began sucking on his thumb like a three year old.

The Fire Bender rolled his eyes, "shoulda known he couldn't handle that many drinks. I say we head back before he wakes up, or might end up having to deal with a more obnoxious Sokka." He took one last gulp and then he and Aang slung his shoulders over theirs and started to walk back. Teo paid the man off and decided to stay in the town a little bit longer, maybe get a few more things of supplies. The boys made sure he wasn't too wasted, which he wasn't, and then said their goodbyes.

They were only half way up to the top of the stair when Zuko asked, "you having trouble in Katara Paradise?"

Aang looked over to his right with Sokka dragging his feet, "ugh nope. Not at all. Why would you ask a question?"

The older man chuckled, "well there is the awkward silence you and Katara have around one another, then there's the tension whenever _we_ are around, or how about the fact we haven't seen you two drool over each other, sleep in the same tent, ask a stupid question on relationships while having a drink, or—"

"Okay, okay you've made your point." Aang interrupted him, not wanting an entire summary of the past week or tonight for that matter. "It's just that I don't know what to say."

Zuko made him stop on the footsteps so that they could catch their breath; carrying Sokka was like carrying a two hundred pound curly tailed guerilla. He didn't look like he would be that heavy, but when you are just dragging a drunken person around for about thirty minutes you can change your mind certain things.

"You need to be more specific, without the details?" His friend added, not really wanting to know everything and yet willing to give him an ear.

"I don't know what happened. One minute I'm helping her with laundry and the next thing I know I am trying to take her swim top off against a tree."

"I said no details! Just the general idea please…I might vomit if I hear the reality of it and have that image my mind for the rest of my life."

Aang nodded, "sorry. All I can say is that I _wanted_ to do it and normally I have better control of myself, but it was like another half of me knew what to do. It was like I was being guided through my…"

"Instincts?"

The stressed out fourteen year old agreed to the right context, "exactly. She told me to stop, and I didn't hear her, then she said it again and I finally stopped. I didn't know what to say so I just walked away from it…what can I say to Katara that won't hurt her?"

Suddenly, they heard the sound of what seemed like noodle soup hitting the stairs. It turned out that Sokka was vomiting all over himself; even his breakfast was in that same pile. "I—don't—feel—so good…" and just like that he was back to sleeping again, only difference was that he was sleeping on something that smelt horrific and acidic.

The boys scooted higher up the stairs to catch some fresh air before Zuko could answer his question for him. "Walking away from it before you two could talk about it was bad enough, and from what I can tell you must've hurt her pretty bad."

"Okay, I know I hurt her…now what do I say?" Aang questioned again, wanting the right answers.

"Look every relationship is different. You and Katara always seem to be in touch with your feelings so maybe you should lead with that? But you better get ready for a fight from hell with her. I would suspect that all of that anger built up inside of her is about to explode once you open that bottle up for discussion."

"Well I would like to avoid that for all intents and purpose\."

He snorted with distort, "good luck with that! If there is one thing I can tell you form being married, it's that women want to talk about everything; so get ready for that between now and the distant future."

Aang seemed a bit surprised, "Mai actually talks to you?"

Zuko gave him a chuckle, "she's still a woman, Aang. Not a wall. But I do have a question for you though?"

"Which is?"

"Why haven't you two—ya know? I mean you both seem to be already at that level and yet this is the first encounter of it _almost_ happening."

The Monk could feel his cheeks burning hot now, not sure how to explain to his friend. A very strong part of him wanted to so desperately; while another wanted to keep the tradition that he had come to know. When he was living in the Southern Air Temple, he was too young to have been asked if he would accept the honor to remain pure for the rest of his life as a Monk, which he had known a number of elders like that. He even knew a man who took a vow of silence, which he always questioned if he could ever do that. Those who took the oath would only do it to conceive more Airbenders into the world, but not many would do it for marriage or love. Not that they did believe in those things, but the genders were always separated so that young generations could concentrate on their gifts as well as listening to lessons given to them by their guardians.

"Mostly it's because of me…I just want to keep the same customs in that of my people. If Katara hadn't stopped me, I don't know what would've happened." He said with even more shame than the last time he thought about it, and he felt like he didn't deserve the Waterbender.

Zuko shrugged and then got up from his seat, "look all I know is that when you and Katara don't get along there is a lot of strain you put on the Gang. So, my advice to you is that you talk to her anyways and knuckle under."

The troubled Avatar looked up at him, "and what if it comes back? What did you do to stop yourself?"

"I am not having this conversation about my sexual life with you, no offense, but Sokka would kill me if he knew I was having this talk."

Aang quickly got up and grabbed hold of his bicep, "please man. I need to know how to prevent the idea at least."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

The older man rubbed Aang's grip off his arm, "because it's all us guys think about. Consider it a black spot in even the purest of men; we think about it constantly in our minds and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Get used to it." Zuko looked up at the distressed tall Airbender and could see that he only made things worse, and needed to fix it so that this torturing chat could end quickly. "Okay, look if you really want to keep it in your pants then think of something horrific that would make you stop."

Again Aang showed him a confused face, "like what?"

The Fire Lord let out a breath of air that blew into his hair, "well for me, when Mai and I were with each other more, I would visualize my father burning me in the face. Now it's your turn."

The tattooed boy pondered for a few seconds, "grapefruit."

Zuko gave him a strange look, "grapefruit? Really?"

Aang shrugged and raised his palms to the dark sky now, "yea it's really sour and makes me shiver at the taste."

He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, "whatever makes your glider fly. Now will you end this discussion and help me get _drunky_ over here into his room. My headache just grew into a migraine after what we just talked about, and I'm ready to crash and never _ever_ wake up."

The Avatar could tell that he was tired of answering his questions, even though he had more, but saw that he was getting on his nerves pretty easily now and decided to keep his mouth shut. And thanks to Sokka's decision of drink, the idea was shot down after for, Aang he looked at the water warrior covered in his own vomit; a site that the Monk would never forget. The boys helped drag him back into his room as quietly as they could, but Sokka awoke before they were even close to where Suki was.

"Did youuuu guys know that I was tha one who made the rangboomer?" He slurred again, worse than before, and was now switching words.

"Shh! Shut up Sokka," Zuko warned him.

"…now every-one is callin' it the _boomerang_. Which has yours name in it, _Aang_! We shud start callin' ya Boomer Aang! Right?"

The Fire Lord looked at the blood shot blue eyes and was ready to punch his lights out any second. "That's great Sokka," he said with an irritated sarcastic tone.

"Oh! Did I mention that I love you guys? I know that I don't say much about it, but I do! I _Wuv_ you guys!"

"Would you still love me if I strangled you to death right now," the older boy mumbled beside Aang who couldn't help but smile at him. Luckily a servant came and helped Zuko with the crazy man they were dragging all throughout the city. They were released from the burden around their shoulders, and what a relief it truly was for the both of them.

The Fire Lord removed some wet stranded hair on his head, and eyed that Aang hadn't shaved his head since they got here. He had a brush cut now, but you could still see some of his sky blue arrow on his head. The Airbender was obviously growing it to hide it since they were about to embark on enemy territory, but what threw him off the most was that he also had facial hair. It wasn't like he could grow a full fledge beard or anything like that, but it was just a shadowy look. It made him look to be about his age, eighteen. And with his height he could easily be twenty one, but those grey eyes made the age of his youth show.

"I'm going to bed now," the Firebender said rubbing his eyes from all that had happened tonight. "Please don't disturb me."

Aang nodded as he quickly walked away from him with his feet clicking behind him on the stone floor. He could still see that Zuko was still a little bit sore at him, especially since just a few days ago he found out that his mother was alive and well. Ever since he told him of the news, he had been drinking a little bit more than he normally would, but never got to the point where Sokka was tonight. The Monk wasn't too sure how he would've reacted either if he found out that an Airbender was still alive somewhere and one of his companions knew about it. Today was actually the first encounter they had as friends, and it was nice to seek advice from him once again like he used to. The Fire Lord said he forgave him from withholding this information from him after he talked with Mai about it; somehow his wife made him see the light and for that he was eternally grateful to her. The Avatar thought that he had learned his lesson after he pulled the same stunt with Katara and Sokka's father, but apparently he was very wrong. His friends deserved so much more from him and yet he seemed to always betray them somehow, and he wished he could take it all back. One of his greatest fears is losing a companion, and now all he wanted was for the Firebender to find his mother, but he refused to do so…

OooooOooooOoooo

_The Airbender knew that he needed to tell him today. It had only been a day and a half since he found out about Zuko's mother, and it was eating at him like crazy. But he had barely had any time to actually sit down with anyone and talk; he and Bumi had been trying to make a plan for everyone's safety and yet get the knowledge that they all wanted to seek. He also had been meaning to talk to Katara as well, but Toph suggested that they start their training today; just to be well prepared. After all of the meeting with the Generals, the preparations, and getting a few hours of sleep, he was always exhausted; however, he desperately needed to tell his friend on the whereabouts' of his long lost parent. _

_Aang had asked the oldest in the gang to talk with him once they had eaten. His friend could sense that something was obviously bugging him, and agreed to talk once everyone had left. The Monk didn't say much while everybody else seemed to chat away at this underground tournament. Toph seemed pretty excited about, saying it was her type of territory. And if anything should happen she would easily be the first one to know about it, which seemed to relieve everyone a little bit. Once they finished eating the Fire Lord and Aang headed into Bumi's throne room; a very enormous place that made you feel significantly small. _

_His friend turned to face him after making it about half way into the stone room, "what is that you wanted to talk about?"_

_Aang put his hands into his pocket as he tried to figure out the correct way to say what was on his mind. He breathed out heavily, "Zuko, do you remember showing me that picture of you and your family?"_

_He nodded, "yeah. It was just a few days ago before we came here."_

"_Exactly. I guess I was just curious at how the search on finding your mom has been going?"_

_The older boy just stood there for a few minutes, as if whatever was about to come out of his mouth would somehow hurt him. "Everyone says I should give up. Finding one person in the entire world, who might have an alias now for her own safety, just seems too impossible. Mai continues to support me though, which I am grateful to have such an amazing wife to help me since I began this crazy notion to find her…I don't want to stop, because I truly believe that she's alive somewhere."_

"_How do you know that, if you haven't seen her since you were young?" Aang asked, wondering if perhaps he already knew his secret._

_Zuko gave him a crooked smile, "I can't explain it. I guess it's just that strong connection that you have with someone close to your heart. Even though some have told me that she could be dead, I refuse to believe it. I haven't felt that a piece of me break away yet, and that gives me strength to look for her." _

_For some reason Aang envied the way he so desperately wanted to find his mother, Ursa. The Avatar never knew his parents, which had never bothered him before since Monk Gyatso had become his legal guardian as well as a permanent father figure in his life. He didn't know what it was like to have a mom in his life, but Ursa showed him what it could've been like. She cared for him like he was his own, was very kind and gentle like any mother would be with her own children. He now understood the sacrifice she had to make for her only son, because his friend had told Katara and him about it before. It's a sad part in Zuko's life, but he understood why she did it; and that's what drove him to find her. His father was of no help either in finding her either. He denied knowing where she was. It wasn't easy to see past his lies, but since Aang took his firebending away the young man could detect it now. _

_The Monk ran his left hand over his prickly hair, "Zuko there's something I need to tell you…about your mother I mean."_

_He gave him a confused look, "okay?"_

_Aang gulped, not sure if he should just come out and say it. "What if—what if I was to tell you that I had met your mom, before?"_

_The Fire Lords heart suddenly dropped as he realized that it was very possible for him to have met her in the Spirit World, and the feeling was starting to make him nauseated and the fear kept rising every second that flew by. Just the thought of her soul with the Spirits made him want to run to a corner and cry like a little boy would when he couldn't find his mother in a market. _

_He then whispered, "how?" _

_They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and they were right; Aang could tell that his friend was ready to burst into tears as his world would soon come crumbling around him very soon, which he wasn't too sure why though. He had kind of figured that this would be good news and it seemed to have the opposite effect on him. _

"_Remember the night I ran away from you guys, after my…incident?"_

_How could anyone forget that night? It was something that was forever permanently implanted in his mind; a recollection that would never be forgotten. But he tried not to show the fear of that night, "of course I do. Don't think we could forget about losing the Avatar."_

_Aang moved his head up and down while seeing that _that_ wasn't the only reason Zuko recalled it, "yes. Well after flying over the ocean with Appa, Momo, and I stumbled upon a single lady. And she helped us."_

_Maybe this woman had somehow known her, and could finally give him the closure that he so longed for. "She knew my mother?"_

_The Monk clenched his jaws, "I guess you could say that they are one in the same person…"_

_He said could feel his heart beat race like the Sun Warriors drums as moisture began to fill his eyes, "are you saying tha—that you found her? You found my mother?"_

_The Avatar gave him a small grin of confirmation, "since you showed me the picture and mentioned her name I have no doubt it is her."_

_Zuko didn't know what to say, so many questions were going through his mind like a whirl wind of a tornado, and suddenly he began to cry. Aang had never once seen his friend show his emotions like this, it was _so_ un-Zuko. He was never one for showing his true colors to the world, in which probably presumed from his past. Then out of nowhere the Fire Lord comes to him and gives him the biggest hug that he had ever received from the older man before. In a way it was odd and yet a nice embrace. The bald headed boy could literally feel the glee flowing out of him as he hugged him even tighter and finally let go, with his arms on the Airbenders shoulders. _

"_She's alive! I can't believe that you found here!" he yelled with such cheer in his tone, a side that Aang would never forget. "How is she? Is she well? How did you even find her? Does she miss me? Where is she living now?"_

_The Monk laughed a little, "she struggles with finances, but she has a kind spirit. Ursa lives in the Earth Kingdom, hidden very well I might add. She works hard, and misses you every day." He proclaimed, recalling the way Ursa talked about her children; especially, her baby boy._

"_I can't believe it! After all of this time in searching for her, you of all people find the one person that I have been missing in my life!" he was still yelling at him and then gave him another embrace yet again. If Aang knew that this would've been his reaction, he would've never feared to tell him. Then he felt the man's body stiffen as the sense of Zuko's anger began to show once he let go of him and took a few steps back._

_The Fire Lord quickly let go of him, "wait. How long have you known of this?"_

_Aang decided to be honest for once, "I've known since the day you showed me the picture. And also when you told me her name…"_

_Now the cheerful child turned into the raging firebender that he recalled a long time ago. "You knew? You knew _all_ this time and you didn't tell me!"_

_The tattooed boy took one step back, "I didn't know how to tell you. I was afraid of losing you on this team…"_

"_So you thought that if you kept this from me that it would keep me from leaving to find the one person, in my life, that I have been looking for since I became Fire Lord?" His voice echoed off of the walls, without knowledge of the fire burning in his hands. He then walked towards Aang and shoved him once, then again, and again, until he had the Monks back pinned to the wall with one hand fisting his clothes. _

_Aang knew the consequences of keeping this from him, and he was only getting what he deserved. "I'm sorry."_

"_Sorry? Sorry? You better have a hell of a lot more to say than that my friend, or should I even call you that!"_

_He gulped in fear, "I know what I did was wrong, Zuko. I'm so _so_ sorry for betraying your trust and putting our friendship on the line. I don't know why I didn't say something sooner…"_

_The Fire Lord pulled him off of the wall for a second and then slammed him up against the stone harder this time, and put his elbow into the young boys' throat. Not choking him, but not letting him breathe too easily either. He knew Aang could easily do something to prevent him from doing this, but he obviously wasn't going to interfere this time. Zuko wanted nothing more than to beat him up so badly, that it would make all of the past Avatar's feel his wrath, but a stronger side of told him not to. He was no longer that person who held hate in his heart or revenge, but through the help of his Uncle he could be more humble and in better control of him temper. His breathing started to come a little bit slower with each breath, until he had finally calmed himself and released the Airbender from his choke. He started coughing once his knees hit the ground, wondering why he had stopped so easily. _

_Aang looked up at the merciful Fire Lord, "I know what I did was wrong. I don't expect you to ever forgive me, and I wish I could take it all back. But now the only thing I want you to do is find her. I'll tell you whatever you want; I'll give you the exact coordinate to where I last saw your mother. I want you to leave tonight and find her; you deserve that in the least."_

_Zuko looked down at him and desperately wanted to know where she was so that he could go after her; talk about their lives without each other, had she married again, if so did he have another brother or sister, how had she survived, why didn't she try to contact him, does she know that he is the new Fire Lord and that she can finally come home? So many unanswered questioned poured into his mind, and he so desperately wanted to grab his things and embark on this new joyful journey…but he wasn't going to leave all that they had been working towards. This tournament could be the breaking point that they need to save this world, and he wouldn't want to bring his mother into a place where she could not be safe. She had made the ultimate sacrifice in saving his life, and he was going to repay her for it. Even though he would never forgive Aang, he was still his best friend and wasn't planning on going anywhere until this was all done._

_The Firebender held out his hand towards the Monk in which he hesitated for a second, and then finally latched onto his forearm as he helped him stand. He could see the confusion on Aang's face once he released his grasp, "you answered the most important question for me tonight; you told me that my mother is alive. And that's all I've ever wanted to know in my search for her."_

"…_then I suppose this is goodbye then. I hope you find her," he said with such sorrow in his voice. This is why Aang didn't want to tell him, but no matter what it was the right thing to do. _

_Zuko folded his arms, "I'm staying Aang."_

"_I don't understand, why?"_

"_I have my reasons, but I know you need my help. Just don't expect me to forgive you so easily. This was a dumb move on your end none the less; however, you given me something no one has in a long time. Hope. This is why you're not on the floor right now groveling in pain." _

_Aang didn't know whether to smile at his stay, or question his motive for not going after his mom. "But isn't that enough to leave and find her?"_

_Zuko shook his head, "my priority is to my people and my friends as well. Someday I will find her, and hopefully by then our world will finally have long lasting peace." He then beckoned him with his head and walked away from Aang, excited and yet afraid. Another reason he didn't want to go find, Ursa is that he was scared that she would no longer want him, that she had a better life and didn't need her past to follow in her shadow. It's not unheard of for things like that to happen, and he wished on the Spirits that if he did find her she would accept the son with a mark on his face, that his father so kindly gave to him. Would she truly let him back into her life? _

OooooOooooOoooo

Aang felt weary after helping Zuko with Sokka and was ready to go to bed for once, but there was one more person he needed to deal with. This thing with Katara and he had gone on long enough and it was time for him to tell her what happened, no matter how embarrassing it could very well possibly be. The night was late and there was a chance that his girlfriend was asleep, but this needed to happen tonight; one way or another. He didn't want another thing to be in the way of their relationship, if he still had one with her. She didn't seem to hold a grudge against him since she still talked to him; however, she definitely did want to speak to him when they were alone for even a few minutes.

It didn't take long for the Air Nomad to find her room; it was after all right next to his. He still felt the need to protect her, and he figured the safest way to do that is to at least live on the other side of the same wall as her. He inhaled and kicked the stone door up very quietly just in case she was still asleep. Aang walked in and let the door fall down slowly and walked towards the bed where he found a girl in a peaceful nights rest. The bed was about the size of a twin bed, with cushions to help them not remember that they were sleeping on a pile of rocks. The temperature in the room was pretty warm which was why Katara had a very light see-through green sheet covering her entire body, and it only made him stress even more on waking her. The color itself went very beautifully with her soft skin tone, but what really drove him crazy was that she was sleeping in her swimsuit once again.

He could hear the thudding of his own heart, and became afraid that it might wake her from the slumber that she was in. It had seemed like forever since he had seen her asleep; Aang was still being mystified by the artistry that the spirits did upon on her. It almost made it seemed unfair that any spirit would let her walk among them on the earth without jealousy of longing for her to return to where she belongs; such a pity indeed. The Monk sat down on the bed next to her, still deciding on if he should wake her up or not. A smile crept onto his face when he saw her grin a little bit and then gently disappears back into her dreams. She would always do that when he came in next to her, and it he too when she was there; it was just another thing that their love gave to each other. He then removed a small strand of hair on her face, and gracefully tucked it behind her ear so that it wouldn't bother her in the night. He loved doing things like that. It's the little affairs that made everything more passionate between them; the kisses on the nose, the long embracive hugs, starring into each other's eyes, their hands twirling in one another's, or just having her lay on his chest while she listened to him laugh. Those were the small highlights in his life with her; the sweet intimate cheesy stuff that most guys aren't weren't in to.

Aang reached over and rubbed the back of his right hand against the silkiness of her cheek; feeling the electrifying shock up his arm, and causing the dark skinned girl moan at the familiar touch. He froze in place as she stretched her body on the soft bed and rubbed her eyes a little, and then those blue eyes in the moon opened up to him. The poor Monk was now completely under her enchantment, and all he could do in her presence was sit on that bed; too afraid to move. Katara was surprised by him being there next to her, and she wasn't too sure if this was some kind of a dream or not. The girl scooted herself up in a slow and tiring manner until she wrapped her arms around her own legs, and made a small yawn. It seemed to have made the fourteen year old boy grin at her, but she didn't return the favor while she sat in her bed. The Waterbender see that he was trying to thinking of something clever to say due to the intense tightening of his jaws, and the way his eyes were scattering around everywhere in the room.

"Is there a reason you are in my room?"

The Air Nomad began playing with the thin piece of sheet by his finger tips, amazed at the material and time it would take to make it so sheer and thin. His grey spheres looked up at her, "I think we should talk…"

She rubbed her left eye to rub away the little crust forming, "what time is it?"

"It's very late. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't wait another day."

"This can't wait till tomorrow?" She asked a little irritated by him waking her up, but she probably needed to hear what he had to say anyways. Katara hoped that it would be worth it; otherwise she was going to make him regret.

He shook his head, "no it can't. I'm tired of waiting and trying to figure out the right thing to say to you."

Suddenly a strangle smell crept into her nose, "why do I smell the mixture of drinks and vomit?"

Aang's eyes got a little big at the realization that he forgot to change shirts before he came in, other things had occupied his mind for those few minutes of making it to her room. He gave it a quick smell and realized she was right. He got off of the bed and un-wrapped it off from his body, to which she quickly looked away from him. The Airbender knew he should go get something else to wear, but decided against it since there was just no point; he was here and it was time. The tattooed boy decided to keep his distance by taking a few steps back and leaning up against the cold stoned wall behind him, and then folded his arms.

He made a sucking noise on his teeth before he put his words in order, "yea about that—we, the boys and I, kinda went for a few dozen of drinks?"

She rolled her eyes at him in vexation, "a typical guy answer to every problem they have."

"You're the one that suggested that the sexes take a breather from each other. We just followed, Zuko and then Sokka had a few too many. We dragged him here for about a mile, so cut me some slack. It's been a long week and an even longer day."

"Did you have any?" She questioned, wondering if he had really gone off to the deep end.

"No," he spoke with a flat tone. "Look I'm sorry about the smell, and the boy's night out. Now will you please let me say what I need to say, so that we can both sleep?"

Katara let out a breath of air and the settled herself into a more comfortable position, "speak then."

Aang scratched the shadow that he was growing on his face and folded his arm back into hit original spot. "I came to talk about what happened at the river." He answered, for which was his reasoning for barging in on her sleep, and then she gave him a quick nod in acknowledgement. "You need to understand that what happened was not a normal thing for me, it was something that I didn't quite understand."

"And yet it seemed like you knew exactly what you were doing though?" The Waterbender spoke firmly, not convinced in the least bit.

He sighed, "honestly I didn't know. It all happened so fast, I don't even know how to describe it."

"Try then."

"It…it was like you were calling to me somehow? I had seen you in that swimsuit of yours plenty of times, but it was like I was looking at you differently for the first time. I remember having strange thoughts of you, things that I wouldn't dare think about. And even the way the water dripped off of your skin, it was like you were trying to torture me for even gazing at you. Then to make matters even worse I realized that your bottoms were shorter on your thighs, and I couldn't stop looking at your chest as you breathed. My body began to heat, heart pounding in my ear, hands shaking, and knees began to wobble even. One thing leads to another, and suddenly I'm doing things I have never done before with you; it was like…" he paused for a moment to try and find the right word that Zuko had said.

"Your instincts took over?" she finished for him and understanding what he meant. It happened to her on the night when she and Aang were finally back together, and he seemed to have resisted her so easily which always made her mad. It was nice to know that he was human after all, least in the physical area of their relationship.

"Exactly," he agreed with her precise choice of word. He had been dreading this conversation for quite some time, and the Avatar figured that this would be so embarrassing to tell her about it; however, she seemed to show interest while she sat there.

"But why did you walk away from it after I stopped you?" Katara questioned his past motives, still hung over it.

Aang swallowed down his saliva to help his dry throat, feeling the embarrassment coming on now. "When you first asked me to stop, I didn't hear you. I kept on pursuing, because my head was so wrapped around finding the tie that would release the cloth from your skin. Then you screamed to stop and it was like my ears worked again for the first time, and once I saw what I had almost done to you I freaked. I wanted to take it all back."

He saw the hurt look on her face and then she asked, "why?"

The Monk pushed himself from the wall and began to pace in front of her for a few minutes while he tried to think of the right way to say it. He thought that he was ready to finally confess it all, but now he wasn't sure anymore. And then he finally stopped in front of another stone, and looked the small cracks that reminded him of the roots in a leaf that when lifted to the sun you can see all its secrets; no lies on the inside.

The tattooed Airbender put his hands in his pockets and spoke without looking at her; a habit that he needed to break when he needed to talk to the young teen. "Because I wanted something more from you that day at the river...I wanted it all. And if you hadn't stopped me, I would've regretted my actions. Katara I don't want us to be like everyone else. You are too much of a diamond in the rough for me to treat you like any other guy would've in my place. I would never want to dishonor you in that way, and it's something I promised myself as a Monk; if I ever found real true love I would wait till we were married. Which I must say is easier said than done…"

He wasn't aware that the girl had gotten herself out of bed and was standing behind him until those hands of hers sent a shiver on his spine. She made him turn, "what do you mean it's easier said than done?"

Aang rubbed the sore muscles that connect to the right side of his neck, realizing the closeness between them. _Grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit,_ he repeated in his mind over and over again. "It, ugh, just means that…well I think about it—a lot more now. Not just when I'm around you, but also when I'm far away. And I never knew it would be this _difficult_ to not think about you in that—well for a lack of a better word, physical sense. I'm just discovering this other side that apparently every guy deals with, and I don't want you to disapprove of me."

The grey eyed bald teen was expecting her to slap him in the face, yell at him, or even tell him that he was a freak for thinking like this. Instead, all he got a shy smile from her and it seemed to bewilder him even more. She shook her head at him as she tried so desperately to hold back her laugh from the young man she was still in love with. Katara couldn't believe that he would think that she doesn't know what goes on through a man's head; she had plenty of years with Sokka to figure _that_ question out, and she knew what they all wanted. But with, Aang it was like he just found out he had a disease and thought he that she would just flee from him. Now it was her turn to tell him the truth on what women think about in this type of area. The girl took his hand and led him to the bed where they both sat side by side on the large cushion.

The dark skinned girl took a handful of her hair and moved it all to the right side of her face so that it wouldn't get in the way while talking to him. "Aang, it wasn't about what you did with me, it's how you responded to it. You just walked away and that's what hurt me the most."

"I know and I'm so sorry-"

Her lips curled up a little, "just let me finish before you say anything, okay?" She asked rhetorically and continued, "if you think I am going to judge you for having these thought, then I would be considered a hypocrite then. These kinds of situations are going to happen in _any_ relationship and it's not always going to be easy to resist. At the river I knew that you wanted to keep going, and I did too, but then again I wanted you to keep your practices alive. I stopped you, because I too respect what you want. Trust me when I tell you this, it wasn't easy for me to just say deny that from you."

He looked at her in a baffled face, "really? Did you actually…want me to do it?"

Katara felt her cheeks burn in the medium sized room once he asked her that question. She gave him a crooked grin, "if we're to be honest with each other then, yes. I kinda did." His eyes grew bigger and showed the soon to be wrinkles on his forehead once he raised up both eyebrows. "Hey you're definitely not the only one in this relationship that wonders about it!" She bellowed out while punching him in the arm, "girls still want it, but not like most boys do."

The Airbender chuckled a bit, "sorry you just caught me off guard I guess. I mean I kind of already had that idea about you, but now that I know, it's just nice understanding that I'm not the only one that is struggling."

"Ha, well are _definitely_ not alone."

A smile came back on his face as he looked at her, seeing how adorable she was when she was a little flustered. "For what it is worth now, thank you for stopping me. It really did mean a lot to someone like me."

She moved her head up and down while a grin that grew on her face once she took hold of his right hand in hers, "I know it does. And I respect you for staying so strong to your beliefs."

"But why does it have to be so hard in denying when I am around you?" He questioned her as their hands played around one another's finger tips.

"I don't know, but is there anything I can do to try and make it a little bit easier for you?"

The Avatar thought about it and then shook his head, "not really. I might as well get used to it, 'cause no matter what you wear that day I'll always want you. I would rather struggle than to deny you at all."

She leaned in closer to him, "I'd prefer that too. I've missed sleeping next to you."

Now he couldn't help, but show his teeth when he his lips rose and whispered, "so does this mean I am forgiven?"

The Waterbender giggled quietly, "for now at least." Then she leaned in and gave him a sweet tender kiss on his lips, feeling the roughness on his face. "I'm still trying to get used to you having facial hair on your face."

He gave her his favorite laugh that reminded her so much when he was younger, "sorry. It was Bumi's idea to make me look a little different, and I know it seems silly now. I think I'm going to shave it off tomorrow anyways."

Katara shook her head, "I kinda like it on you. The scruffy side looks good on you."

"Oh really?"

"Definitely," she toyed with him; hinting that she wanted to him to kiss her again.

He just looked at her with love in those stormy eyes of his as he placed his right hand on her cloud like cheek and said, "wow…"

"What, what is it?"

Aang let out a warm breath of air from his nose, "you are just so ravishing in the moon light, Katara. Anyone would think that after almost three years of being around you, I would not be surprised by anything that you throw at me. But you always manage it somehow, someway with me."

She gave him an amused look, "careful Avatar. You're about to put me in the _mood_."

He laughed and brought his hand away from her perfect face, "that's all it takes with you is words?"

The Waterbender bit down on her lower lip, "no, it's the way you say it. You make it always make it seem like I am the only girl you see in this world, and it's not just every once in a while, but constantly. Even when things aren't good with us I always notice you watching me, like you're afraid that something is about to jump out and take me far away from you.

The young boy didn't know what to say to her, but decided to get up from the bed before she would see past his mask. It wasn't easy to keep secrets from her and telling her that everything was fine. He still hadn't told her about his premonition and how he would kill her by his own hands as the world around him would be drenched in blood while it burned to ash. He desperately needed to tell her and yet his heart wouldn't allow this action; it would be like the final seal that would end his happiness. His back was towards her now, and she could easily see the stress he had been taking on.

Aang rubbed his face with his right hand, forgetting about the prickly hair, and then placed his palms on his hips and faced her with a joking look, "I just want you to be safe. I figured that was in the boyfriend handbook or something."

He was lying to her. Most people would have a tell, but Aang didn't and that's what always gave him away. "I can take of myself, you know that."

"No, I do. I just can't help it though."

"Why?"

The Monk shrugged, "guess it just comes with the territory. I want all of you to be safe."

Katara scooted back into the middle of the bed, "I understand that. But we've been through everything together; I don't think anything could surprise us right now." Whatever part of that sentence she said made Aang change his footing position enough to try and hide how he felt. "Unless, there is something?" She suggested, feeling like she just plucked a nerve

He licked the top of his teeth, "no. Not that I can think of."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, letting the silence make him feel a bit on the edge. "Okay, I believe you."

The Avatar nodded and gave a quick smile before he said, "alright. Well, ugh, I suppose I'll let you get some sleep." He started walking towards the door, until a sweet beautiful angel voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Aang turned, "I'm going to let you sleep?"

"No," she giggled and rolled her eyes at him. "I mean why aren't you sleeping with me tonight?"

"I guess—I wasn't sure if you wanted me too…since ya know…."

"Are you thinking about it right now?" The girl in the white swimsuit asked curiously.

He gave her a devilish smile, "I think about it more than I should. And I'm trying not to at this point, but you're making it very difficult."

"Well my philosophy is to become better at something, you need to practice."

Aang cocked his head to the left, "would that work in this situation?"

"Only one way to find out," she revealed to him with an invitational wink.

He chuckled, "I like the way you think." The Monk walked towards her and gingerly kissed her; which soon turned quickly into a much more passionate lip lock and moans from both of them. They missed this part in their relationship so much, it was nice to pretend that past her door there were worlds of problems to deal with and they had the opportunity to ignore it for a night alone. After hours of fooling around, they eventually fell asleep in each other's arms. With Katara's head resting on his lower chest and his strong biceps enclosed around her, things between them were back to where they were meant to be...if not even better.

OooooOooooOoooo

More and more hard core training came back to the gang for the next three days, only this time things seemed a little bit more different. They were starting to understand this was no joking matter or the fact that they would possibly get killed just trying to sneak into this tourney.

Zuko was in and out of those days, constantly thinking about his mom. "_What does she look like, does she miss me, how did she survive for so long, does she ever regret leaving him alone with his father, did she know that she could come home, was she ill, would she still call him _son_, why didn't she take him with her?_" Everyday another question would lead to an even more delirious one; just this morning he wondered if he wasn't born, would she be happier? And if she was happier would it be with his father? To anyone these questions would be stupid, but to a boy that hadn't seen his mother in eight years it seemed plausible. Even Katara and Sokka sympathized with him and telling him that they still asked questions about their deceased parent; it is something that a child never seems to lose.

The Air Nomad had noticed the blank looks on his face since he told him of, Ursa being alive, and it seemed like that was all he could think of right now; that scared him the most. What they were about to do, they all needed to have complete and utter focus right now with their lives, as well as others, hanging in the balance. And now the Firebender didn't pay any attention when they were talking to him directly; he didn't eat too much, always seemed to be interested in having a few drinks before he went to bed, or he just keep to himself. It was sad to see Zuko falling back when he had worked so hard not to fall into this pit again; but he seemed to not care about it anymore.

Aang walked over to the place Mai was sitting; she sat up with good posture on the stone wall that went up to his waist, where she continued to draw some schematics for Teo to take a look at; most likely a new gadget for her daggers. He leaned his staff against the rocks while they both sat there in silence for a little bit as the two of them watched everyone practice on each other; Zuko against Katara, which showed to result in a lot of steam, Toph vs. Suki and Sokka, Teo was flying around and dropping his small hand bombs onto targets that seemed to have a bigger explosive than what most would think, while Jet sat there with guards on both sides of him. The Monk didn't like this idea of him getting outdoors time, but Katara insisted that he at least get some fresh air since he had been cooped up in a seven foot floor walk up with no windows. He eventually succumbed to her suggestion, and only requested that he would stay quiet for the rest of the day while they went to work.

Mai wasn't too sure why the Avatar was sitting next to her. They really didn't talk too much, but he didn't ignore her either. Every day he would ask about how her day was, if she was well, and if there was anything he could do for her. It was strange how easily he had accepted her into their gang, especially since she was the one who was willing to kill him and his friends; she helped in capturing Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors as well and almost hurting Appa. Aang and the others held absolutely no grudge against her; they knew just how manipulative Azula could be, as well as terrifying. Instead they all just opened their arms to her, ready to embrace her as part of their family. Even though she kept to herself the plain girl was happy to finally fit in somewhere in this world; Zuko helped a lot in that area more than anyone else.

"How are things with you, Mai?" Aang asked after some time of just watching her draw from the corner of his eye.

"I'm fine. Thanks." She said with a mellow toned voice and continued drawing.

"What are you drawing?"

The older woman gave him a small shrug, "just an idea for a hiding my weapons better and possibly being able to kick a knife out of my boot in case of an emergency."

It was definitely an intriguing idea, "oh, very clever. Sounds like you know how to keep yourself safe."

She nodded, "always be prepared when you are at war. Can never be too careful."

Aang agreed with her, "how have things with you and Zuko been?"

Her sketching stopped, "do you mean before or after you told him that his mother was alive?" She questioned him, and seeing that he was getting curious about her husband. Mai went back to drawing, "how would you feel if after so many years you believed your mom was dead, and then a _supposed_ friend withholds that information for almost two days, instead of telling him right away?"

The Monk breathed out some hot air, aware that that was the first time he had heard Zuko's wife say so much, and even with some frustrated emotion showing. "Okay, I deserve that. And I truly am sorry about that, and I hope he will forgive me someday…as well as you too."

The girl stopped drawing again and finally looked at him, amazed at how different he looked. Aang was no longer a fourteen year old boy; he looked like a grown Avatar, which the small facial hair seemed to help him age a little. Bags were still under his eyes that were filled with fatigue from his own drills that he did with the others as well as on his own time. The Airbender was a good kid that was in a world of tough decisions to deal with as an Avatar; it was especially too much responsibility for a twelve year old, let alone a fourteen year old who still had time to be just a kid. And now that Ozai's own spirit was inside of him, she wondered how he is able to keep the good inside of him without losing it all. After living across from Zuko since they were young, she didn't know how anyone would be able to stay true to themselves and her husband was full proof of that theory; though, Aang had those moments when he would lose himself for a second and show them what he was capable of, the girl could see that he was strong and hoped that he would continue to stay that way.

"Sorry, Aang, I know you didn't mean to. Zuko told me everything and I don't think he's mad at you anymore. More than anything he is just confused."

"About what?" He questioned, feeling a light breeze blow against his hot skin once the cloud covered the bright and yellow sphere in the sky.

Mai set the drawing faced down on the ground, so that it wouldn't blow away into the small breeze. "He questions his loyalty." Still the Avatar was confused, "a part of him wants to stay here and help you find this enemy that he too seeks. And the other half of him longs to find his lost mother."

"Did he tell you that I told him that he could leave?" He asked trying to cover his bases in representing the option to his friend.

The woman combed through her hair, "it's not that easy for Zuko to just drop his duties as the Fire Lord just so that he can find, Ursa. He knows that the lives of his people are far more important at this moment, and also helping you find the rebellion weighs a lot on the issue too."

"I never thought of it like that before; I can't imagine what is going on through his head right now. Is that why he's starting to have a few sips before he sleeps?"

"I'm sure that's a big part of it. Zuko doesn't always tell me everything, but then again neither do I."

Aang then wrapped his arms around his legs in a relaxing manner, "but I thought in marriages you are supposed to be completely honest with one another?"

She gave him a regaling soft chuckle, "marriage is never what you think it is. It's a lot of work to be honest with each other, but most of the time we know what we are thinking; guess that's what they mean when you hear the saying, _you become one with your other half_."

The Airbender thought about that for a second and how in sync he and Katara were; there were times it freaked him out, and other times it saved him. He reached his right hand into his pocket to feel the cloth of his girlfriend's betrothal necklace, and imagined her wearing it around her dark neck; making the colors of their bending symbols jump out. And if people looked closely they would see the inscription that said "love is brightest in the dark." It's something that helped bring them together, even if he kind of did screw up in lying to her about not wanting to kiss her; worst idea ever.

"Can I ask you something personally?" Aang inquired which she gave him a small nod of approval. "Do you think I shouldn't have told him? I mean I knew it was the right thing to do, but it seems like I made things more complicated for him now."

Mai was a little caught off guard by his question, because she too had kind of wondered that as well. She was so happy to learn of, Ursa being alive and yet it seemed like it was a burden that the man she loved was carrying it on his back. Zuko blamed himself a lot for her leaving, even though it was completely his father's doing that put his mom in that situation in the first place, causing all hell to break loose. But the blame was always put on him; Azula mockingly reminded him of it every waking day to make things worse. He learned not too long ago of his mother needing to commit treason in order for him to live, and that seemed to break his heart even more. Since he became the new Fire Lord his obsession to find her grew even more, and Mai was always there to support him in not giving up on her. She loved her husband very deeply and wanted him to be happy while living the life of marriage, something they both cherished with one another. Zuko deserved so much more and yet it seemed like the universe wouldn't allow it; even with Aang's good news, he still couldn't have what he wanted. She tried to tell him that he could send his most loyal soldiers to find her and bring her back to the palace, but he wouldn't allow it. He wanted his men to locate her exact placement, however, in the end he wanted to be the one knocking on her door and seeing her face to face.

"…Aang sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. We live in a world where our faith, our beliefs, can be so strong that we build ourselves around it. The truth isn't good enough for Zuko, because he has grasped onto lies; lies that were given to him by his father and Azula. He's built that wall around his mom's death, and now those walls are crashing down."

Now the Airbender seemed even more baffled, "but wouldn't that give him more hope? Hope of finding her?"

Mai gave him a humble grin, "it does indeed. But the hope of rebuilding that mother and son relationship frightens him more than anything. He's afraid that she won't have him."

"_How could Zuko think like that?_" Aang questioned in his mind, "But I told him that she loves and misses him deeply! Wouldn't that tell him that everything is going to be, okay?"

"It's not that simple with him when you speak words. You need to understand that after the way he was raised it makes him question even his closest of friends. He has trust issues, but he is working hard on them and doing better; however, this is a touchy issue. Zuko just needs time to sort things out, that's all."

The bald headed boy's eyes fell to the ground and then back up to Zuko, who was now helping Katara with a stance in order to block one of his fire moves. He wished that he could give him his memories for even a few seconds so he could gaze upon, Ursa; the woman who raised him for ten years, the longing to have him back in her arms, the sacrifice she made for his life, and see the tired eyes from the tears she would shed every night. The Fire Lord was a very strong and courageous young man, but even the most immortal of men have weaknesses; it's what helped them be reminded that they were still human and vulnerable. Aang understood that, because he went through the same thing when he had his first encounter with Guru Pathik. He told him that he needed to let go of Katara in order to achieve the Avatar State, but the Monk couldn't do that; the women he loved so desperately was his weakness _and_ also his strength. When he finally did go into the Avatar State he never realized that he could be hurt, neither did Katara, until Azula shot lightning right through him. The scar she left him was a reminder that he could be hurt, not only physically as a full known Avatar, but emotionally and spiritually; Aang became too afraid to ever try it again after that. There were days when he wondered if he had listened to the Guru, and let go of the one person he cherished above his own life, would things have been different that day?

"I hope he finds what he is looking for then," the young boy proclaimed once he looked back at the woman to his right.

Mai grabbed her drawings again and started to doodle, "so do I. He needs to understand what happened that night more than anything so he can move on with his life, but no matter where he goes I'll always follow him."

Aang smiled at the love she was portraying for him; a love that would never be taken away from them without a fight. The young teen was so happy that they had married and regretted that he couldn't have been there to see her become his wife, but at the same time he didn't regret what was needed to be done at the time. He looked back out to the gang to watch them continue with their workouts until something caught the corner of his eye. He turned to look and see Mai holding onto the top of her nose with her thumb and index finger, groaning a little bit in small amounts of pain.

The Air Nomad placed a hand on the top part of her back and rubbed it, "you okay? You look like you might be getting sick or something?"

The quiet girl shook her head with her fingers still on the highest part of her nose, "no I'm fine. I think it's just a rather small migraine right now."

Aang understood how those were, everyday he had one and sometimes it would be so terrible that he had to ask Katara for help. "If you would like I can get you some water?"

Mai took a few seconds to recover before she said, "please. Water would be great right now."

He gave her a quick smile and ran off into the palace behind them, asking for a cool refreshment to give to the plain girl while he went into his pack to get dried leaf's called Feverfew. They are perennial plants that belong to the daisy family, a trick that the Guru taught him about. Aang placed it in the cup that the Earthbending servant gave him, and sprinkled some of the dry leafs in there and he stirred it by using waterbending. He handed the cup to her and she slowly drank it, giving him a sour looking face on the first sip.

"I know it kind of taste awful, but it'll help with the migraine. Trust me."

She nodded and took some more drinks very slowly until she downed it all, wishing the effects would hurry. "Thank you, Aang. That was very sweet of you to do for me."

The Monk spoke, "no worries. I like helping people, even if it is just a cup of water."

The married woman saw him wink at her and causing the effects of a grin to shine back at him. She then went back to her drawing as if nothing happened, and Aang decided that he had had a long enough break. He grabbed his staff and went flying up with Teo, where they soared through the skies; trying to teach each other new tricks to try. That was the first long encounter that she and Aang ever had, and she had to admit to why she understood Katara taking a fond interest in him. It was pretty easy for anyone to take a liking to the Avatar; he was very sweet, probably worried a little too much, mature for his age, and of course a kind spirit. She never really understood why the Waterbender would take an interest in someone two years younger than her, but after talking with him she realized there is so much more to him than meets the eye.

Now it was Zuko's turn to take a break for once, where he sat down next to his wife and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He then leaned his lower half on the stone while the sun beat down on his skin, and listening to the sound of Mai drawing. His mind was traveling elsewhere for a long while, still thinking about the one person he missed the most. Some more longing hours passed by, and the Gang became very fatigue with the heat of the sun gripping weariness. They quickly went into the palace and were amazed at how much a shadow from a building can instantly make you feel so much cooler. Dinner was already set for them; all types of fruits and veggies for Aang, rice, domburi, kare raisu, soba, udon, ramen, gyoza, egg custard, and plenty of meat just for Sokka. Once their bellies were filled up, they were ready to hear the plan that Bumi and the Avatar had come up with during this tournament.

The young boy took a sip of his tea, "so…Bumi and I have come to an agreement. We both know that each and every one of you are amazing fighters, both bending and non, but—_we_ think it would be in the best interest of the group if I am the only one that actually enters into this match."

Toph gave a loud burp, "no way airhead! We've been training our butts off, and now you're telling us that we can't even _fight_?"

"Toph's right," Zuko agreed. "We know it's a risk, but we each want to take it."

Suki spoke now, "besides we would have a better chance at surviving if we are strong in numbers."

Aang put his arms on the table and made a canopy with his hands, "and what if we were to face off against one another? What then?"

"Then we face each other," Sokka said while stuffing another piece of muscle into his mouth. "Winner takes all!"

The Earthbender complied with what the boy across from her said, "and this'll help prove who the better fighter is once and for all!" Everyone started to nod their heads in agreement with some cheer, wanting the Monk to hear what they had to say.

"You guys don't get it do you?" He asked them and getting their full attention. "This isn't like the tourney's your used to, Toph, where the losers walk away and winners get prize money. Bumi said that no one _ever_ comes out of that place, which means they are taken against their will or worse, killed. If we face off with one another there is a chance we may never find each other; we could forever lose this gang."

No one had really thought of it like that before; they had been focusing on winning and not understanding that there aren't winners and losers this time around. No matter what, they would be taken somewhere where not even that Avatar can possibly locate, or any of the other leaders of the four nations. If they did face off against one another, would they truly go all out in the fight; risking their lives to possibly never see their loves ones and friends again. Aang could tell that they were heeding his words, recalling that this was no game; it was something far worse than they or even he could grasp onto.

"Guys, I have never once doubted your skill levels when it was time to show it. I don't doubt your courage, the extensive teachings in your bending and non-bending abilities, your witty minds, and most importantly the strength of your hearts. But this is not about any of that; this is about finding where this rebellion is located and how we can stop this war that is coming. The only way for us to do that is for them to keep their eyes fixed on me while the rest of you conceal yourselves and gain some insight of their whereabouts."

A beautiful voice caught his attention, "what makes you think that they will talk?"

The Monk shrugged at his girlfriend on the left, "I don't. But maybe, just maybe, we can capture one of them. That's what your jobs will be while I try and figure a way to not get killed."

"What if you lose?" Teo asked nervously, always the one to ask the question everyone was curious about.

Aang sighed heavily and took another drink of his luke warm tea, "I don't have the luxury to lose; I'll have to survive the rounds no matter what."

Zuko then asked, "and if they find out who you are? It's not like you can just walk out of there without a fight, which might require you to choose between my father's spirit and your life; you said it yourself, you can't just go into the Avatar State anymore without consequences to what'll happen to you."

The tattooed Air Nomad had already been thinking about that for several days now, trying to come up with different outlines of escapes, but unless he knew the layout of the underground there probably isn't too much he could do. He could possibly earthbend out of there and yet he had a feeling that they would follow him none the less as well as track his friends. Or what if one of his comrades was captured, what decision would he make then?

He combed through his hair that was a just a smidge longer, "there are probably too many variable of "things to go wrong" to calculate right now. A number of things can happen and I will make the decision on the matters if, and when, it is presented in front of me. Until then I have to think positive that all of this is all going to be okay, and that we will all survive."

"Is there at least a plan B somewhere in that airhead of yours?" Katara's brother addressed, thinking he wouldn't go in there and just wing it out like that without thinking clearly on the details.

"Yeah, there is. If any of you even get the hint of someone following you, I want you to drop what you are doing and run. If anything goes wrong we will make up a rendezvous point and hope that everyone is safe."

"What if something happens to you?" Katara challenged, not sure if she would ever be able to leave him behind; she knew that he wouldn't do that to her.

The young bald boy knew what she was thinking and if he were to be in a jam, the spirits forbid, the last thing he needed to do was worry about the woman he treasured or any of his friends. "No matter what, don't come back for me. Just run."

The Waterbender didn't like this idea one bit and she didn't try to hide the angered face, or that fact that she was squeezing her fists into a ball; ready to punch him in the arrow. But instead she quickly got up and left the table, not wanting to hear another word of this so called "strategy." To her a plan is having a plan B, and if that fails a plan C, and so on. What Aang came up with was a one way ticket for him to get killed, or worse, be captured and never seen again. The thought was too unbearable for her to think right now, but she just couldn't get the idea of losing him out of her head. Katara just couldn't shake the images that flowed of him being shackled up somewhere far and away from her, never knowing if he was dead or alive. She couldn't lose him again, the world wasn't going to take him away from her; not this time. Before she knew it the teenage girl had found herself sitting on the footstep of Bumi's palace where she just starred at the giant rocky city. Of course, it didn't take the one person long to find her whereabouts. He seemed to always manage to locate where she was; sometimes it was a good thing, while others wasn't.

The Monk understood her fury against him, since he decided to pretty much state that his life is pretty much less important than theirs, but he just wanted to protect them all; she would've done the same. Otherwise she wouldn't have walked out on him like that during their small meeting. He inhaled the warm air around him and exhaled it all out before he sat down a step higher up on her, with his thighs near her shoulders so that she didn't feel obligated to look at him. Aang could hint that she wanted to be alone, but he didn't want them to be in another fight when they just barely got over one a few days ago. They were going to fight; it's what people in relationships do and he wasn't going to let him or her regret this one either.

"You know, with our luck we might have a full moon that day. It could come in handy to have you on our side." Aang spoke with some spirit in his tone, but even by looking at her from the back he knew that she was rolling her eyes at him while biting down on her tongue. She wasn't going to talk to him, so he just decided to keep talking out loud to her as is she was.

"What a beautiful night; not a single cloud in the sky with the stars at their highest peak'. It's crazy to think that from a distance, our world looks like those twinkles. Makes you feel significantly small to a universe out there that is so mysterious to us, and yet we get to gaze at its beauty every single day; the waxing gibbous moon, shooting stars, the rise and set of the sun, clouds, and just so many other things that we take for granted. Do you think we will ever understand it all someday?"

He knew it would be a rhetorical question since she obviously didn't answer, but she just gave him a cold sigh. The young Air Nomad chuckled, "yeah I don't think we will ever be able to understand it. It's kind of like questioning love ya know? We feel it whenever we are with people; family, friends, or even someone closer to you than that. But just 'cause we don't see it or understand how it was made, doesn't mean we can't still feel it."

Katara rolled her eyes at him again, "if this is your way of an apology then you should know that it really sucks."

Aang agreed with her, "maybe. But it got you to talk didn't it?"

The Waterbender combed through her free loose hair and spoke with sarcasm, "you always had a way of doing it."

He laughed anyways and then got serious, "look I'm sorry. Okay? I should've told you sooner, but I needed to make sure that this wasn't the only option we could come up with."

The young teenage girl finally turned around with red fire showing on her flawless face, "you just don't get it do you? Every time there is danger you volunteer to do it, any time there is a chance at you being killed, you jump higher than the others raising their hands. Why can't you just for _once_ let someone else try and fix the world, Aang? Just this one time!"

He looked back down at his feet trying to buy himself some time to come up with the right words for her, but she knew he was the Avatar; it was his job to bring the world back to balance. "Katara, you know why I do it. I don't have a choice in this matter. I never did."

"No, you do! Let someone else do this for you. Please, I am begging you!"

The Airbender shook his head, "I can't and I won't. I _have_ to do this."

"Why? Why does it always have to be you?" She pleaded with him to answer as she tried so desperately to not let him see those tears that were ready to fall out of her blue eyes.

Aang looked around the city for a few minutes, until he found himself looking down at his feet again, with no one there to help him. He was surprised that she had remained sane for this long, and for that he was proud in her doing that and yet felt ashamed. The Monk didn't know what it was like to be her; to sit around and wait to hear news of him, or to be at his bed side after a battle and heal him while she prayed for him to wake up. But he did know what it was like to feel that every mission he took on could possibly be the last time to ever see one another. Unfortunately, it is the price to be paid when you are with the Avatar; it's never an easy life and every choice you make will affect those closest to you. The young boy finally opened up his eyes and eventually found her blue spheres starring back at him; those same eyes that had been through so much with him over the past three years since she found him. And that's when it dawned on him; the answer he was looking for.

"Do you remember when you found me in the giant block of ice?" He asked and she quickly recollected that day, "I was gone from the world for a full century. A war broke out during my disappearance and many innocent people were killed; including you're your mother and even Jet's parents. They died, because I was too afraid and confused to take on my destiny. And more importantly it was something I _never_ wanted in my life as a twelve year old boy. I didn't want to save the world 'because I feared that I couldn't do it, I feared that I truly couldn't help anyone."

There was a sudden anger in her voice when she spoke, and quickly stood up so that he had to look up at her. "So that's what this is all about? You feeling guilty over something you couldn't control?"

She was obviously upset with the answer, but he remained calm while he just sat there in front of her; letting the woman block the almost completed moon from his sight. The tattooed teen shook his head, "no. I don't do this out of guilt or the idea that I owe the thousands of people out there something in return. I do it, because I have finally chosen this life as the Avatar and I'm not going to fail the world again; that was a vow I made a long time ago."

Now she couldn't hold her tears back any longer as she sobbed, "and what about the vow you made to me? I've lost you enough times to last me a life time and for once I am telling you, don't do this! Don't be the hero, not this time around."

With drops of water hitting at Katara's feet he quickly stood up and caught her in his arms; trying to escape from his grip she began to hit him hard on the chest, but he just pulled her in even closer until she stopped fighting the stubborn Monk and allowed him to just hold her like a child frightened by the dark. Aang continued to shush her fears away as he swayed her in a slow manner; allowing her to get his one shoulder shirt wet with her tears. With his arms wrapped tightly around the Waterbender, he wasn't going to let go of her until things were settled; even if it took all night just to do it.

"Please…please don't do this. I need you…"

Aang desperately didn't want to deny her request, but he had no choice but to go through with his plans. It was going to be the most risky mission they had ever taken on and it needed to be done by him; he couldn't allow someone else to be captured or killed on his account. He trusted his friends with his life, yet this was something he had to make sure was done right. This could be their only chance to have the upper hand for once and it needed to be done no matter what. He chose to do this so that the woman he loved could have those chances to see the sun rise and set on the ocean, and then look to the envious moon that longed to feed her its power through her bending.

With the Airbenders cheek on top of the girls brown hair and his nostrils being filled with the scent of a flower, he finally said something. "Gyatso once said to me, _"Aang, I wanna tell you something. Something you do not yet know, that we Monks have been around long enough to have discovered. The universe will expand, then it will collapse back on itself, and then it will expand again. It will repeat this process forever. What you don't you know is that when the universe expands again, everything will be as it is now. Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will live through on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through again, and again, forever. So my advice to you is to get it right this time around. Because this time is all you have."_ Katara, I don't want my mistakes to repeat forever, and I'm trying to heed Monk Gyatso's words that ring in my head every day. I know I've made horrible decisions in the past, and this is the right choice in my path to do. I don't know why it has to be me, but I just have to believe there's a reason; and there is. I have something worth fighting for…to let you, your brother and our friends have a future to live in without fear growing in the distance somewhere."

Katara clung onto him as if the ground from underneath her feet would collapse, and continued to cry against him. She then said into his skin, "I understand why you're doing this, I really do. So why do I feel this way? I'm so confused, and angry, and afraid that I am never going to see you again." She recalled asking that exact question to her father, once upon a time, when all she ever wanted was to have a father there to raise her and let him see her grow up. The girl knew that she was being selfish; wanting to keep the Avatar close to her heart, but it's always so hard to let go of the ones that you would give your life for; she didn't know if she could take being deprived of him again.

Aang kissed her on top of the forehead, "you feel this way, because I feel it too. I know I am never going to be able to convince you that this is a great plan, or get you to stand behind me on this, but it's the only one we have right now and I'm going to do this with or without your permission."

She sniffled and finally looked up at him with eyes red and cheeks wet, "I know you will…but _why_?"

The Monk then placed both hands on her soft face and wiped away her tears with his thumb, until he got everyone of them. "Because, I'm fighting for moments like these with a girl whom I've had a crush on, that eventually became my best friend, and is now the most important real thing in my life. You wouldn't feel this way if you didn't love me the same way I love you. I'm doing this, 'cause I want it to continue for years to come; to see Zuko and Sokka become fathers, for Toph to get engaged, and that one day you would have that honor with someone too. I want _that_ future with all of my heart and it won't happen if I have to keep looking over my shoulder for the rest of the years…I need you to be brave for me"

The fearful girl didn't stop looking into those grey spheres of his that mixed with the white moon light from above, and she could see that every word that slipped out of his mouth was nothing but the honest truth. It wasn't just about the gang, or her anymore; it was about the world living the same dream he wanted. In the beginning Aang may have never wanted the duties of making tough decisions as the Avatar, but she had to admit that no one else could've ever been as strong and brave as him. She just didn't know if she could ever be like him, she was too afraid that they would no longer be together.

"I can't be brave like you, Aang. I'm not strong like you."

The boy carefully bent down and pulled her delicate lips up to his, giving her a sweet benevolent kiss. The he whispered into her ear, "Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. And you, Katara are braver than anyone I have had the pleasure of encountering with; I would know, because you're _still_ with the one person that is a magnet to danger."

He joked with her once he looked back at her and it seemed to bring a smile on her face; now knowing that the fight was over with between them. Aang kissed her on the forehead and then on the nose, "everything's going to be okay. I promise."

Katara then place her forehead on the lower of his chest, due to the extra step he had on her. She then said, "don't make promises you can't keep."

"Trust me, this is one promise I intend to keep." The Monk proclaimed to the girl who stole his heart and giving the girl a small wink to make her feel more at ease. They embraced each other once again, without any hassling this time, until the young couple became tired of standing in each other's arms. The two of them then headed off back into King Bumi's home with a small cheer in their hearts, almost like someone had finally cut off the chains that bounded them both to their fears. They both held hand in hand with one another until they found the way to their room together, aware that everyone in the kingdom was asleep; except for the guards on duty. Aang stomped into the floor, allowing the door to be lifted up for them to enter their own room together.

The dark skinned teen was about to walk in, but then the Airbender pulled her back and pressed her up against the wall. Before she could say anything he kissed her lips with so much passion behind it that it started to make the girl quiver at his mercy; giving her the most addicting drug that anyone could possibly imagine. He stopped for a second and looked at her, but her eyes remained closed with his lips barely grazing hers and feeling the tickle of his face so close. "I love you," he said and didn't allow her to say anything as he picked up right where they left off. Without realizing it, Aang quickly scooped the Katara into his arms and led her into the bedroom where they continued their love for one another behind closed walls. Many smiles, kisses, and laughs were exchanged that night; but they weren't aware of the eyes that had been watching them from a far.

OooooOooooOoooo

"_And your sure about this?" a woman with an evil voice asked, still hiding her face in the shadows. She was a thin toned woman that had been through a rough many years and it was taking a toll on her as he sat down in a chair that she forced the earthbenders to make especially for her. _

"_Yes. I've had my spies repeatedly acknowledge that they plan to be at the tournament, just as you planned it."_

_The shadow figured woman made her hands into an arrow and pointed it to the sky as she brought it to her lips, "good. Our master will be pleased to hear that all is going according to plan." _

_The young Firebender nodded in compliance, "forgive me for asking this, but why don't we just capture the Avatar if he is so vulnerable right now?"_

"_Because timing is everything, Ryuu and we don't know how vulnerable he truly is. This plan will be a test of his strengths and weaknesses, we need to know what makes him tick and I need my most trusted ally there to make sure it is done properly. Especially, since I have become aware that, Jet won't be their either due to his mouth? "_

_The fighter agreed with her to make it perfectly clear as to the reasons why he won't be there. He then scratched his left glass eye, recalling how he had lost it for a certain punishment and then shown a form of kindness..._

When he was first captured into this hell hole, he was beaten, tortured, starved, and at one point left for dead. When he passed the "physical" test, he had been released to start working. He quickly wished that he could go back in that hole, for it seemed like it would be a better place than the outside. Every morning at four all firebenders were sent to the furnace area, or the "boiler room" as they would call it, that was completely surrounded by metal walls, to help heat up the rocks and coal, so that they could help make future weapons and armory for the army that they had never once seen; many time when they came out of that oven they were so soak in sweat that you would literally twist the salt water out of your clothing. When afternoon ever so slowly strolled by, all water and firebenders were chained by their hands and feet; where they would help removed crushed stones that the earthbenders did for them. The officers would then order all of the other slaves to move the rocks from place to place, just so that they could tire them out enough not to attempt to run away. They had a ten minute lunch break to eat half a bowl of rice, rotten tomatoes that made you gag, and barely enough water to heal their dry sore throats. At night they would put them in long lines and make them carry the ones that couldn't make it, to a deep dark ditch that could hold thousands of people; it forever scarred Ryuu. The boy could never get the images of frail elderly men that had their eyes opened to him, women who were beaten to the pulp, or the many _many_ children that couldn't fend for their selves. It was difficult to make friends, because within that next day or the next you would never see them again; either they were shipped off somewhere on an island where they train you to be their soulless soldier, or you get to have the privilege to carry away their cold lifeless bodies away. People envied both those choices, because to them it meant living no longer under their blood sun, where hope is abandoned and memories vanish into the winds of ashes.

It day was still early to Ryuu while working in the boiler room, when he heard a young girl cry for help not even ten yards away. The man that attacked her was twice her size, broad shouldered, a quizzical brow that made your skin crawl. To many of the ones who had been there long enough knew to keep their mouths shut and remain at work, no matter what is going on. Fear is the most powerful thing you can have upon any person, because they will do exactly what you say; even if they tell you to jump off a cliff they would do it. Everyone stopped to look at the new victim that was now being targeted. The Firebender gave a quick glance and went back to work as the pig himself began to beat up on the girl. The black haired boy looked back at her, and saw that she had to be no more that fourteen years; three years younger than he. She locked eyes with him, eyes that pleaded him to help, but looked away in distress. Then the giant picked her up the intimidated girl, like a rag doll, and threw her hard enough onto the ground to knock the breath out of her. The sweaty barbarian began to take off her pants, and then his too as she tried to breathe the air back into her lungs. No one seemed to care about what was taking place, or those that did care were too terrified of the consequences that would come after.

To this day the seventeen year old could still hear that scream of bloody murder for someone to help her until her voice could give out no more. The girl then tried hit him, but he then slapped her in the face to silence so that he could take care of business. Still she fought and screamed, and again he hit her, and kept slapping her harder. The frightened girl blocked one of his blows, for which she paid the ultimate price when he grabbed it and broke it instantly and then knocked her out enough to make her feel what he was about to accomplish. Ryuu couldn't take it anymore as he charged as full speed to the monster that was still on top of the barely conscious girl. He then kicked him as hard as he could in the face; feeling the break of his nose and his teeth sinking into his bare feet. The savage was knocked out on his back, where he remained motionless for a few seconds. Then the other benders around him began to call for their officers, and point towards him; the man who just saved this girls other soldiers saw this and then started to come after him from every side, which he defended bravely against them until an Earthbender clamped his feet to the ground, so as not be able to kick at them, and when he fell to the ground they did the same thing to his hands. And just when they though he was ready to surrender, he did something that he never knew was possible; he breathed fire out of his mouth like dragons breath. The boy was able was able to burn a few more pieces of skin in victory as they shouted words at him that he had already gotten used to, and then one of them knocked him unconscious and started to beat him up so badly that no one would've ever been able to recognize his face. Ryuu would've been happy to die that day, but the woman with the devilish voice told them to stop immediately and bring him up to her. It was rare to see the big boss, but if someone ever did go up there all they would hear for two nights was screaming and then it would be silenced.

The soldiers did as they were told and barricaded his hands with the metal shackles and then threw him hard onto the rocky ground, in front of the woman that is his superior. With Ryuu's right eye completely closed off and his left half shut, he in front of him a small table fit for one person. Instantly his nostrils were filled with the sweet smell of pork, bread sprinkled in cinnamon, and eggs in rice; things that he took for granted when he had things like that. His superior pulled out her knife and cut herself a hunk of juicy meat and then placed it on her table, and then took a small sip of a drink that was obviously brewed to her satisfaction. Then his half opened eye saw the young girl that he had saved chained to the wall, trying to keep herself balance since she still had the broken arm. He had never taken notice before, but realized that she was in fact a Waterbender. It was rare to have a waterbender in the furnace area, but sometimes they used their abilities to make things cooler for them in there so as to not pass out in the boiling room. The frightened young teen had a torn blue outfit that was now stained with sweat and blood from her as well as the man who tried to rape her.

"Do you realize that the punishment for attacking a member of this clan is death?"

Ryuu spit out the blood in his mouth, tasting the rusty texture of his own liquid. With a dry voice he spoke with pride, "yes."

The leader sat there in silence for a few seconds and then stabbed at the piece of pork of her plate, and stuffed it into her mouth with juice spilling out of the sides of her mouth. It made the boys mouth drool at the thought of how wonderful it would taste, but he tried to ignore his hunger as he finally made himself move very slowly off the ground until he sitting on his knees and barely able to hold himself high.

"And yet you defy the law of my people?"

He gave her a mocking chuckle, "I am no longer terrified to die anymore. I attacked that pig out there, because I wanted to! My life it is no longer my own since you took it from me a long time ago. So go ahead and take it."

Ryuu was expecting him to quickly cut off his head, put him in the cooler until they freeze him to death, or to even be crushed under a giant bolder. Instead, the woman just laughed at him and applauded at his actions. "I'm not going to kill you boy! I actually want you to become one of the many captains in the army that I am helping to create. I am in need of a strong and young Firebender right now, and from what I have heard you have the dragon inside of you."

The bruised face man could barely hold his head up with great difficulty, "why would I help someone like you who took everything away from me?"

For some odd reason Ryuu couldn't remember much of his past for some reason; it was like it had all been wiped clean away so that he wouldn't have the opportunity to be happy. But every once in a while he would have a flash of a woman with brown hair and golden eyes laughing as she would twirl him around in her arms, but it always seemed like a silly dream that it could possibly be his own mother when he didn't recall what she even looked like. Then there were times of a girl that was four with the same black soiled as his would come into the picture, where she would have bright red flowered braided into her hair; and he always wanted to call her his little princess as if it was a game they used to play.

"Because," the woman said to bring his mind back to reality. "If you don't, I will kill Aimi; the girl you just saved."

Ryuu looked at the girl whose mouth had been gagged to quiet her moaning, but could see on the cloth the many tears that were wet; they were stains of fear and pain. He didn't know why he tried to save this girl. He had seen plenty of girls younger than her being beaten until they were puking up blood, raped a few feet away from his area of work, yelling at him to help them, and yet he always ignored it even though his heart would break for the other women. The Firebender didn't even know that Aimi was her name, but it was pretty none the less. Even with a black eye, her light brown hair in a tangled mess, the dirt and rips all over clothes, and even with the dry red liquid on her face there was still some beauty in the lost soul that she had become. He breathed heavily in through his nose and then his right side hurt, which he quickly took hold of his side. The hurt man didn't know if his ribs were broken or just bruised, he never heard a pop so he just assumed it was bruised; either way it was horrid pain.

"Why would I care about someone I don't even know?"

She finally removed herself from the table and walked out of the darkness to reveal a huge scar that went from her right cornered eye until it reached the far right side of her jaw. The older woman had two set color of eyes; one gold and the other brown. She was in fact a sight for sore eyes, but his hate for her was too much to even think of her in that manner.

"That is an excellent question indeed, but you seemed to care enough about her when you killed the man who was just having some fun."

His mouth dropped open with surprise in his eyes, "I killed him?"

He had never killed anyone before in his life, and right when he decides to take action on someone for the first time he kills the man who had an extra foot on him. Not that he would deny the thoughts of killing them; a simple strangle to the throat, burning them to a crisp, choking them, or even just twisting their necks until he heard it pop. The seven foot barbarian had what was coming to him, but taking someone's life made him a murderer; and no one has the right to kill someone. No matter how much they might deserve it.

A wry smile showed up on the leaders face, "don't worry. It was a good death. From what my specialist tell me, he was dead from the first kick in the face; tiny fragments of the bones in his nose went straight into his brain, killing him instantly. And he seemed to have lost four of his front teeth that went into the back of his throat."

Suddenly, Ryuu felt nauseated at the idea that he just took a man's life. Not that he didn't he didn't want to. Especially, since it felt like he had been here with these so called human beings, but he never had the guts to do it consciously. He didn't want any more blood on his hands and all he wanted was to get Aimi to stop screaming in terror. But as he continued to glance her way, it was like now he just wanted to save her.

He surrendered to their leader with his face buried on the floor, and still feeling the effects of pain on his upper right side. "I'll do whatever you want me to do; as long as you give me the girl and your word that no man or woman will lay a finger on her."

An evil laugh chuckled out of her, "we have an extortionist boys!" And then her minions began to laugh with her, "after all of that you _still_ want her for yourself?"

Ryuu didn't want Aimi in that way, but if it meant saving her life he would do just about anything to help her. "Yes," he spoke with fearlessness in what was left of his voice.

"Even as a captain you could have your pick of women…you could even have me." The dark haired woman said with a seductive voice that would make most men weep, but he could see the real demon that she was.

"Those are my terms."

The scary woman thought about it for a second, "very well. Take her to his chamber we will be giving our new captain and get someone to fix that arm of hers." Some guards then unshackled her and dragged her to the place where he would be staying, which he wasn't too sure where that might be.

"Now you must know that murdering one of my men will cost you something else of great value, and since you have denied me the girl, I will take it off of you."

Strong men behind Ryuu grabbed onto his shoulder, and one took a fistful of his hair and pulled him back up to look at their leader. The room was dark, but with candle lights flickering above him he could see blood stain that had been spewed all of over the walls, from many who had come here and knowing that. The woman reached her hand behind her back and pulled out a dagger that was dull enough not to even sharp enough cut through a strand of hair. She held the knife in her hands like it was about to explode any second and then he poked it at his face, and began to drag it to build up the intensity.

"So which shall it be—a tongue? No, I'm going to need you to talk. An ear perhaps? No, I'll need you to listen to me when I give you orders." Then the not so sharp blade came to his left eye, "An eye for an eye? Seems like a good enough gesture for me…what do you think, Commander Juro?" She asked one of her most loyal servants, who did just about anything to please her.

Juro looked almost like the man he had just killed an hour ago, even had the same height and weight it seemed like. "An eye is sufficient for breaking the bones of my brother, but I want another thing as well, Admiral Ren."

Ryuu had never heard of the woman's name before since he had come to this place. Instead the prisoners would just call her a Shinigami; the goddess of death. He could see that if anyone had called her that to her face, then she would take no offense to it. In fact, she would probably help prove their theory and kill them all if she wanted to.

Admiral Ren eyed her commander that wanted revenge on his younger brother, who was just about to be promoted in the same ranking as his twin. Instead she just handed him the knife, "just keep him alive." She said and then went back to her meal that was no cold, and began to eat while being entertained by the men underneath her command.

Ren gave him an amused grin mixed with satanic, "since you forever deprived my brother of his loins, I will show the same courtesy you bestowed upon him. Hold him down," he ordered with vengeance. "This will get messy…"

_Ryuu never forgot the feel of that dull dagger scrapping into his eye, causing more pain and blood to spill out than anything he had ever felt, but no words could even remotely describe the suffering that he went through his mind when the Admiral took away his manhood. He had said it was punishment for stopping his brother in the middle of his "fun" and that this would be a reminder for him to look the other way next time. Instead, it was just a reminder of the next man to kill if or when the time ever came._

_The young Captain still didn't regret saving Aimi's life those many months ago. She was still sore afraid of any man that came into her room, but she was the one person that he would never, and still hadn't, touch or done anything to make her feel uncomfortable. In a strange way he had fallen in love with her, but he would never do anything to frighten her again; he just wanted to protect her. The Waterbender became the only person that could soothe his pain and anger away whenever she sang of her village in the north; a place he'd like to visit someday._

_He looked back at his superior and said, "we already know his weakness mam. It's his friends that he values most above all, and innocent lives."_

"_And the girl?"_

_The wounded soldier moved his head up and down in regret to answer, "he would easily give his life for hers…"_

"_Hmm! Something you both have in common I'd say. Love makes a man weak and we will use it against him when the time is right. But for now let us get to know our enemy even better; I have a feeling that there is more to him on the inside than appears on the outside. And if my spy speaks the truth we could have a valuable member on this team that would wipe out the world instantly; and we would become its rulers."_

"_What is it that you will have me do then, Admiral Ren?"_

"_I want you to hold the tournament there personally, and make sure that you throw everything you have at him. I want you to see if you can break him without involving his friends."_

_Ryuu bowed to him with hate in his heart, "as you wish." _

"_Oh and one more thing," she said to make him stop in his tracks. "If anything goes wrong, and I find out that you were somehow involved, I promise to kill that girl in her sleep with the same blade my allies used on you. Do you understand, Captain?"_

_He turned back to acknowledged her threat and made his fist into a ball so tightly, he couldn't feel the circulation coursing through his fingers; feeling the fiery inferno he held back with the greatest of effort. "I understand-" he said through his teeth, wishing he could release his inner dragon at her. He bowed and walked away as fast as he could before he did something he would regret, especially if it involved the life of Aimi. Ryuu continued his fast paced walk towards hi room and diligently shut the medaled door behind him, and placed his hot forehead on the cool frame. His armor was placed in front of his bed, where every piece of plates had a place to rest on. He also had three types of swords resting on a block of wood, a new scroll for the location of the tournament, civilian clothes so that he could blend in, leather patch of money, a bandana to cover up his left glass eye, and some old boots to help him blend in. Ryuu's bed was made to the finest of linen, which he denied to have, but the Admiral insisted it anyways. So instead, he and the fourteen year old girl would switch beds so that she could be comfortable, while he slept on the floor with very little cushion. Once he had finally calmed himself, he went to pack his gear and supplies for the trip ahead._

_His quarters weren't that big, but it was enough space to allow Aimi to still be at her comfort. She was surrounded by the many books he gave to her whenever he went away on a mission, and every time he would bring her back a scroll of news in the world or some kind of reading material from a market that he would buy. She had close to a hundred now, and the reason he knew that she liked to read was, because he caught her snooping in his pack and dropped a scroll of history. She feared for her life, but he let the girl know it was okay and handed her the scroll. It was her place of serenity when she wanted to escape this place, and he gladly did anything to make her feel more comfortable. _

"_Are you going away again?" the little girl's voice asked him, not too frightened of him anymore. _

_He looked behind him and saw the beautiful girl in the farthest corner to his left, reading with the one little lantern on her side. Ryuu was still too afraid to go near her, for he did not want to scare her again. "For a little bit," he said with a very kind tone that he did only around her. _

"_Where?"_

_The Firebender was surprised by her question, most of the time she just asked if he was leaving and that be it. "I have to go into the Earth Kingdom for a while, Aimi. I promise to bring you something; would you like a fairy tale or history?"_

"…_please don't go. Please don't leave me again."_

_Ryuu stopped his packing and looked back at the lost girl he saved, and saw that she was now standing against the wall with her arms crossed like she was cold. He desperately wanted to go over and hold in his arms, letting her know that she no longer had to be afraid. The castrated Captain couldn't do anything to her even if he wanted to; he was no longer a man in his sight. But when he was around her he felt like she didn't see him like that with those big ice blue of hers that match well with her ebony hair that was pulled back, and the dark skin tone that made her blue colors pop out even more._

_The Firebender sat on the too comfortable bed and placed his arms on his knees and cradled his weight. "You know that I have to. I am one of them now."_

"_No," she whispered and then walked over to him. She got down on her knees in front of him, "you are not one of them."_

_His right side of his lip curled and then it disappeared, "but I am. I've done horrible things to help this rebellion and not once have I spoken against them. The only time I feel at peace is when—I am with…you; a saint that keeps me sane enough to live every day."_

_Aimi looked up at his lost soul and saw that the last words he spoke were the truth. Not that he had ever lied to her in the first place, but hearing those words slip from his mouth gave her hope that she could save him; just as he did for her. She knew he wanted to escape this place just as much as she did, and once she heard rumors of the Avatar looking for them it gave her hope to finally try and escape. _

_The girl stood up taller on her knees, with her face at the same height as his. Out of all of the men she had ever seen he had the kindest face, which appeared to have very sorrowful tired amber eyes. He had a rugged look that went handsomely with his features, but always kept it trimmed so as not to let the facial hair tame his looks. He was a very tall man compared to her, but nothing like the man who gave her nightmares; and Ryuu would always wake her so that she knew it wasn't happening again. Sometimes she would dream of the Firebender when he was off somewhere, and she always missed him when she saw his face turn towards her. _

_The Waterbender reached her hands up to his face, but hesitated once he caught what she was attempting to do. He didn't move as he let the young girl decide for herself if she was ready to take the next step, which she gracefully did finally. Aimi loved the feel of his facial hair in her hands for some reason, it was very soothing in a way. To Ryuu this would be reason enough to stay here with this girl and stay in her presence, but he couldn't. _

_He grabbed her hands to slide them off of his face and then he kissed her palms, "I have to go." Then he got up and put a couple more things in his pack, as she sat on the floor still at his bed. He went for the door and opened it, ready to get out of there, until small arms wrapped around his waist, still begging him not to leave her side yet. _

_Ryuu sighed and shut the door half way so that he could look at her again, and then he pulled her into his arms just as he always dreamed it would feel. He whispered into her ear, "I will come back to you. And when I do, things are going to change." The Captain gave her a kiss on her forehead and then bolted out the door as fast as his legs could carry him. He had already been devising a plan for her to leave this wretched place so that she could live a real and happy life; with or without him._

**Please don't get confused on the Italicized part when I end this story. It's just happening at a different time, and when Ryuu is thinking about his past I change that to regular text so you won't get lost...hope that made sense?  
**

**Wooh, so I added a LOT of things and new characters in this chapter! Sorry if the ending was a little too much, but these idea's just kept flowing and I didn't want to stop writing till I was satisfied. On that note, I don't know if there was a whole lotta grammar errors once we met Ryuu; I kinda didn't read over it, because that woul've taken up more time and I was ready to publish this chapter anyways. So we kinda get a look into the life of others witht the Death Stalkers, and I'd love to hear what you guys gotta say.  
**

**I also need to say that I stole quotes from THE DARK KNIGHT, as well as K-PAX! I'm sure some of you guys caught it lol. Also, no one hate on Katara! The girl has been through a lot and this is the first time she's finally showing how she feels, so cut her some slack. The woman that talks to Ryuu is the same chick that told Jet what to do for his next mission (just fyi). I will do my VERY best to put up another chapter on by Friday, because Saturday I will be staying at my families lake hour for a week, I'll try and do that. NO GUARANTEES THOUGH!**

**PLEASE COMMENTS/EMAIL this chapter for me pretty please :) I am always appreciative of the criticism; good or bad. I read them all and if you want to get in contact with me please message me and I'd love to hear what you gotta say. For all of those who sent e-mails I will be sending them back out to you today :) Thanks guys!**

**Peace and Love Avatarads!**


	26. Dearest Fans

Dearest Fans,

For the past few weeks I have been getting quite a few messages regarding my continuation of my story. And because of that I am leaving this up to all of you. If I can get enough responses from you guys then I will definitely finish what I started. I stopped writing because I am working on my own story and then it seemed like my fans were dwindling down after writing long and vigorous chapters for everyone. Again I need your support and I need to see how much you guys really want it. Otherwise this will be the end of the line for me. I hope you guys understand this. I don't want to do this for nothing. I am writing for all of you, but when feel like I have people losing interest it makes it difficult to write. Which is why I decided to do another project. Again this is up to everyone who reads this. Sorry it's not a new chapter, but hopefully all goes well and if not I'm sorry.

Thank you fans.

Peace and Love to you all


	27. Kuzon Becomes 73

**Hellooooooooo Avatards! Wow it has been a long time, I know. And I do apologize to all of you for it. And I have to say THANK YOU to all of my loyal fans that have been with me for a long time now, almost 2 years now. You guys are unbelievable to have stuck with me this long. And a special shout out to ALL NEW fans who have hoped on this bandwagon and are willing to see this thing through with me. I am also working on a different story in my spare time, not FanFiction related, but just something I enjoy doing. So that is where most of my time has been spent this last year, and I am sorry guys. That was selfish on my end :(**

**Before I sent out the Fan Letter to everyone, I was already receiving a small number of emails to continue my story. And it got me curious and that is why I asked everyone to give me an answer. And I must say, there was a BIG response so thanks you guys for still believing in me and inspiring me as well. I will go ahead and admit that it will take a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things, which means I need to watch ATLA again. I will not watch Legend of Korra, because I just want to do this my way. I will do my best to respond to each of your emails, but it will take some time and I all of you should know that I have read each one thus far. **

**Okay, so a recap on the last chapter (We have a couple new characters involved; the evil female Major Ren, Ryuu who saved Aimi, and now Ryuu is to hold a tournament to bring out the Avatar. Plans are already being made by the gAang and are ready to get some answers) I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's about 28 pages long and I am sure you will find grammar mistakes and misspelled words so please don't say anything about that. I am going to make mistakes. ENJOY!**

Aang found himself not sleeping that night, which wasn't a surprise anyways, but with the fight clouding everything in his mind he found it too difficult to ponder on anything else. His headache had turned into a migraine, and the minty leaf's he had been chewing on didn't seem to help anymore. The young teen felt cold under his clothes and yet he would find himself sweating underneath the cool breeze grazing against his neck. He looked towards the northeast horizon to see a little bit of purple and pink beginning to show, indicating that Aang had been up all night with the sun slowly starting to wake up the world. With Momo curled up in his lap while he sat on the stairs, he couldn't help but be envious of the little lemur. The Monk continued to pet him as Momo continued to purr against his palm.

All he could think about the Winter Solstice that was coming quickly. But he promised Katara that he would focus on the events happening tonight. As always Aang was trying to find a way to keep his friends safe. The enemy obviously wanted him to come to them and he was going to have to do it blindly and without question. He didn't like the idea of bringing his family into this matter, but he was going to need them all there in order to succeed. If he could keep their eyes fixed on him long enough while fighting, then maybe they could accomplish more than they had in the last few months. The Avatar was going to be there. He wasn't going as himself. Aang was going to have to become Kuzon, the Firebender. His hair wasn't long enough to the point where he wanted it; however, it was enough to hide the tattoo on top of his head none the less. Aang was obviously going to have to wear a headband to cover up the tip of his arrow and hoped that his costume would make up for the rest.

Very soon his thoughts went back to Katara and their friends. He was very concerned for his comrades, but seemed more on edge with his girlfriends being there as well. Aang knew that she could easily take down an army of twenty full grown firebenders without breaking a sweat and all he wanted was for her to be away from the danger. She was a very passionate and stubborn person when it came to his own safety and vise versa. It was something they had in common and it got them into a lot of arguments and eventually made up. Which the Monk had to admit was simply amazing. But ever since he had left her, the Waterbender was not the same person anymore. There were nights he would hear her whisper in her dreams, pleading with him not to walk away again. Sometimes she would grab for his shirt during the night and begin to cry against him, telling Sokka that she didn't want to give up on him. And that she still loved him.

Heartache would always engulf him. Katara was a strong woman and always made it clear how she felt about him, but this was entirely different. She never said that she hated him in those dreams of hers and all the while her tone seemed to have a larger impact. The Airbender knew how much they loved each other and it was enough to keep him going throughout that two years, but he couldn't dismiss all that he had overheard. Guru Pathik had once told Aang that there were times, while he meditated, he would always overhear his dreams. He said that when people sleep their subconscious takes over and the truth comes out. You dream and speak of things that you would never dare say to anyone who was close to you. The Guru had learned a great deal of Katara from just his dreams alone; describing how flawless she was, always smelling the rain in her hair, lips that even the Spirits themselves would never kiss upon, eyes that reflected the oceans true blue colors as the stars would bounce off its reflection, the way her smile could make flowers bloom all amongst her, hair that would dangle around his face and tickle him, and just the way his voice would change whenever he said Katara's name. The elderly man even told him that there were times his whole body would quiver when they were near water.

He had truly broken her. Not just the Waterbender's hear, but her spirit. And he would never be able to fix the damage he had placed on her. She may have forgiven him, but it doesn't mean that the fear of the past didn't stop haunting her. Aang still knew it was the right thing to do, when he left to understand more, but he still hadn't succumbed to forgiving himself. The Monk rubbed his tired eyes and saw the top part of the orange glow begin to peak out and not yet touching his skin to warm him. He had been seeing a lot of sunrises and sunsets these past few months, trying to remember the beauty of this world just as Guru had taught him. He had wanted him to get to know the earth that he was trying to save. Being raised by the Monks made him detach himself from the world so that his spirit could be free, but his own spirit was bound in chains of Ozai, who eagerly and patiently waited for the right moment. The real question was if he did somehow miraculously survive the night, not get captured, all of his friends made it out alive, and if he didn't get himself killed, the Winter Solstice may be a walk in the park. But he still feared it. It was a time when Aang could easily change to a darker person; a person that only his mentor witnessed. Will he be able to do this without the Guru there to guide him?

"Couldn't sleep either baldy?" A tomboyish voice from behind asked.

Aang peaked over his shoulders to see a girl with black hair in a mess with faded green eyes. He gave her a quick smile of acknowledgement, even though there was no point, and then looked back out towards the sun. "Not tonight…"

"Or any other night for that matter." She said and sat down next to him. "What's up? Not that I care, but I got nothing else better to do than to hear about your problems."

He rolled his eyes at her and was happy to see that she still didn't mind hiding her "caring" with sarcasm and Earthbending. The Monk shrugged. "I'm fine Toph."

There was silence and then out of nowhere she punched him hard into the right shoulder, and knocking him onto his left side. A small squeak emerged out of Momo's voice after he fell on a step and flew away with haste. At least the lemur could fly away from Toph and she would never be able to find him. The pain in Aang's shoulder began to throb quickly as he pushed himself off of the stairs until he sat upright and gave the Earthbender a dirty look while trying to rub away the bruise. He moved his arm in circles to help the blood circulate a little bit more, and checking to make sure she didn't somehow dislocate or shatter a bone. "What was that for?"

"For lying to my face."

"Seriously, Toph? You're not the only person I have ever told a little lie to."

"Hmm…good point." She spoke and then gave him a hard left hook in the same red spot forming on his shoulder. The punch was so hard that it sent the Monk rolling down all of the stairs and grunting every step of the way till he hit rock bottom. Literally.

"Ah!" He whispered with the wind knocked out of him as he held onto his left rib. Aang slowly got on all three and slowly got up while still holding his side. Then the sound of a loud thud of rocks breaking underneath someone's iron feet where he found himself looking up at Toph.

Aang coughed a few times. "What was all of _that_ for?"

She shrugged. "You said I wasn't the only person you lied to so I figured this is payback for all of those deceits you pulled off on the others."

"So you punch me twice and send me down a flight of stairs?"

Toph brought her eyebrows together as if she was trying to decide if the entire thing was idiotic. "Yup!" She came to conclusion with her hand reaching out to help the Monk back onto his feet.

The young man stretched his back and dusted himself off. "Figures. I'm really getting tired of being your punching bag Toph, especially when my girlfriend is going to wonder who I got into a fight with."

She chuckled. "This wasn't a fight. This was me kicking your butt for lying to me. Consider it a new method of _physical_ therapy. In all fairness, I believe Katara would thoroughly enjoy seeing me do it again to you!"

Aang held up his right hand. "No, no, I really don't feel like messing with two females right now. So how about we cut through the crap and you tell me what you want?"

"Now what did I come here to tell you..?" The Earthbender ruminated for a few more seconds. "Oh now I remember! Katara sent me out here to tell you that breakfast is ready."

The Airbender looked back at the morning glow to see it was still fairly early for anyone else to be up but him. "Seriously? That's the _only_ reason you came out here in the first place?" He yelled with a hint of red splashing onto Aang's face.

Toph gave him an annoying grin. "Well, yeah. But you and I really hadn't had a chance to talk, and I'd say that these last few minutes with you have been invigorating."

"Invigorating?" Aang scoffed at her. "And what do you call beating me up for no good reason?"

"_Great_ restraint on my part, baldy! And why the hell are you suddenly so mad? Is it that time of the month for you?"

"Toph!" He yelled. "I'm just tired from everything, all right?"

"And that's the excuse all girls use, Twinkle Toes."

The young man's rubbed his eyes again as he became aware that he must've swallowed the leaves once he fell down the steps. His body began warming up again, but he felt immensely cold at the same time. Aang shook off the notion and tried to stay focused with Toph there to mock him and it wasn't helping one bit. He wiped away the beads of sweat forming above his upper lip, tasting a little bit of salt that dripped into the cracks of his mouth.

The Earthbender started to become concerned with him as she heard his heart speed up a little bit and slow back to an irregular pace. "I was just kidding with you, man. Are you okay though?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm gonna have to be for tonight. I think I just need something to eat right now."

Toph couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but he didn't sound good to her at all. "Come on, let's go. I'm starving."

The both of them walked the halls of the great King Bumi and eventually found their way to the table, and found no one there but the guards. They could both smell the mixtures of aromas and headed in to see plates and bowls of food; apples with cinnamon, chicken that was sprinkled in a sweet and spicy seasoning with rice, vegetable stuffing, beef tendon noodle soup with egg, vegetable bun, fried bread sticks, and all sorts of fruits for Aang. As always Katara was cooking up a storm with Suki and even Mai was helping out as well. Most of the time the smell would be great to him, but it seemed to make him nauseated and dizzy instead. The Waterbender looked up and smiled at the young man that just walked through the doors and saw that he looked worse than he did last night. She stopped stirring the pot and walked over to Aang to give him a very sweet hug. Feeling the heat bouncing off his skin, only it was a different kind of fire. Katara let go of him and saw the struggle it took to even stay stand. Whenever she saw her boyfriend like this it meant Ozai's spirit was trying to itch its way out of him, but this was something different.

"Hey, can you lean back for me? Please."

Aang raised his right eyebrow together and gave her an odd laugh. "Why?"

"Because I said so. Now do as you are told!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'm." He acted in attendance.

She pushed him back a little and got onto her tiptoes. Katara moved her long black hair over a shoulder and put her cool cheek against his. "Aang, you're burning up."

Sokka grabbed a handful of fried food and stuffed it in his mouth. "Do we always need to know his body temperature?"

"No, I mean think Aang is—sick?"

The tattoo teenager moved Katara away from him and wiped away the sweaty evidence. "Sick?" he laughed off. "Katara I don't get sick."

Suki looked over at him and stopped stirring the food as well. "No, I think Katara is right, Aang. You're looking a little green."

"Guys I'm not sick! I'm—"

"Fine?" Toph finished for him.

The Monk gave her the same dirty look. "Exactly."

Katara crossed her arms and shrugged. "Okay, _fine_." She said and then went over to the bowl of fruit salad that she made for him. "Eat then."

The Airbender looked down at the bowl of cut up fruit in many shapes and colors. He gulped back his nausea and felt the heat running through him and his eyes beginning to hurt from the migraine. The young man shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

The Waterbender examined him. Not as a girlfriend or his best friend, but as a healer. She squinted her eyes at him, scanning everything on that face. "…we need to call off the mission."

"What?" Aang yelled at her and took a step back from her. "No way!"

"I hate to agree with sweet cheeks, but I think I'm going to have to side with her. We can't add sick to the long list of things that already screw you over."

"Guys, we won't get another opportunity to do this." Sokka said.

"Thank you, Sokka!" Aang pointed out at what seemed like his only friend in the room.

"But to lose the Avatar is far worse than anything else. The world needs you, Aang and we all can't afford to put you up on missing milk jugs." Katara's brother added.

Aang just felt like he got punched in the gut. "Suki? Teo? Mai?" But they didn't say anything and didn't make eye contact with him. His grey spheres looked over at the Firebender who had his back against the wall near the door and his hands in his pockets. "Zuko, you of all people know how important this tournament is. This could help change the war. Save thousands if not millions of others! We need this and you know it. As Fire Lord it is your job to protect your people and to help me when I ask you."

"…you are the Avatar and my friend, Aang. And I will follow into battle and death itself to save this world that we have been working on. But not like this. I'm going to have to side with Katara. I'm sorry." Zuko said with a heavy heart.

The Airbender looked at each and every one of them. His friends that were supposed to have his back were now against him. He knew they meant well, but right now everything was on the line and he couldn't let them take away this opportunity away. His headache had heightened and so did his anger. He walked through the entrance, from where he came in, and stopped dead in his tracks. Aang stood there thinking about it what they said and then he did something unintentionally. The fourteen year old balled up his right hand and then punched wall as if he was striking through his opponent's heart; just as his firebending master had taught him. The room shook around them and the cracks dispersed everywhere from the floors to the walls and even through the ceiling.

With his jaws tight and anger shooting out of his eyes, he pointed his index finger at one person but meant it as a group. "One day you guys are going to look back on this moment and realize that you could've done a little to save a lot." The Monk yelled infuriatingly at each of them and then walked out of there with his hands still in a tight fist.

"Aang! Where are you going? We need to talk about this!" Katara said just as she was about to run after him, but Zuko quickly caught her wrist just like he did when the Airbender was trying to find a different way to defeat Zuko's father.

"Someone has to tell Bumi the bad news! Or do I need permission to do that too?" He yelled over his shoulder and stomped away.

"Aang!" She yelled at him again but the Fire Lord continued to hold onto her.

"Let him walk it off. If what you say is true with, Aang being sick then I think we need him to get better first before starting up a new plan." Zuko beckoned towards Katara but more than anything he was doing it to protect her. Aang was too dangerous to be near anyone that he loved, especially after looking closely at the hold in the cement wall. Aang obviously needed someone else let some steam off. Even if it was a silly King that seemed to acted like a small kid most of the time. Perhaps that was exactly was the young airbender needed.

Sokka walked over to the hole in wall while holding a bowl of noodles and scattered meat. It was about the length of his elbow to the tips of his fingers. The water tribe warrior whistled in amazement as he looked through it. "That went well."

"I think we may have broken his brain." Toph whispered to Teo, who was just slurping a piece of noodle into his mouth

OooooOooooOoooo

The Monk roamed the halls until he got back outside and breathed the cool clean air, but it didn't seem to stop the nauseating feeling. He put his left palm on the wall to steady the dizziness around him and placed the other hand on his knees. Aang couldn't stop it now. He threw up. The acidic feeling of it coming out of his mouth and even partially through his nose made it far worse of an experience. He didn't understand though. Never once in his whole life had he ever gotten sick. It was extremely rare for any airbender to suffer some type of illness and he just couldn't comprehend how this was even remotely possible. After it all finally came out, he hocked back and spat the rest of it out as well as whatever was left in his nose.

The young Air Nomad stood up very slowly with the wall being used as his crutch. His throat felt like someone had just ran a blade through it and then burned it over an open flame. The chills were getting worse and his body ached so much, but it wasn't from Toph. Could this perhaps be the doing of Ozai? Could he really have the power to do this to him? Aang understood he was very powerful in human form and his spirit was just as strong as anything he had ever encountered. But his gut told him that this wasn't his doing. However, he could be trying to make it worse. He seemed to be really good at doing stuff like that. What if his friends were right though? Should the mission be called off on his account? After so much planning and training it all seemed to go to waste…but they desperately needed this plan to work. There was one thing Sokka was right about; the world needed him. And he wasn't going to let them down. Not again. If he was about to go MIA then he had better at least leave some bread crumbs along the way. If this plan of his worked, in any case it will probably fail, then Katara was going to have his head for this.

OooooOooooOoooo

"Guys?" Teo asked the gang after they had stuffed themselves full, except for Mai. He wondered if perhaps she too was getting sick as the young airbender was. "What if Aang is right? What if this is our only chance we get?"

Zuko ran a hand through his shaggy hair to reveal his mark. "You can't expect a half healthy avatar to fight when he is vulnerable to my father's spirit."

"We might as well tie up him up and cook Aang up for them. And while we're at it we might as well surrender to these death stalkers and become a walking Jet!" Sokka busted out. "As much as I hate to give up on a fight before it even starts, we have to think smart and the only move left is to get Aang back to his old cheerful self somehow."

Katara took another bite of fruit that she made for the angry monk and hated seeing the pain on his face when walking away. She scanned the thousands lines from Aang's punch. It reminded her of a giant like tree that didn't seem to want to stop growing. Luckily, Toph was there with them. If she wasn't the whole kingdom itself may have crumbled on top of them, or at least that's what the earthbender proclaimed.

"We made the right decision." Katara protested. Or at least that is what she was telling herself over and over.

"Then why does it feel like we just signed our death warrants?" Sokka questionably mentioned.

Mai looked at all of her new friends. "Because it's the right thing to do and at the same time it will most likely be a decision we will regret. Just as Aang said."

"The plan can still work." Suki said and everyone looked at her. "We can still go under disguise and find out the information needed. The only thing we are missing is someone willing to fight."

"Is the girl with _no_ bending abilities going to volunteer for this suicide mission?" Toph asked sarcastically.

Suki fell silent and then looked down at the cold fried food on her plate and then looked up at the blind girl. "If you mean am I willing to give my life for a greater cause, then yes I would. We all would"

"Okay." Toph stopped her from getting into one of her speeches. "Who votes for Suki to be burned to a crisp or smashed between two rocks?" She joked while having her own hand in the air.

"Shut up!" Sokka said to the girl that sat across from him. "Suki does have a point. This could still work."

"No." The Fire Lord shook his head. "The task itself was hard enough for Aang to do with us there, but without him we won't have a chance of getting out of there alive."

"We don't need twinkle toes. We have the greatest benders from every nation here at this table! Oh and the normal ones."

Teo bumped his elbow into his girlfriend that he was secretly in a relationship with. "Don't underestimate us 'normal' people. Remember the tavern?" He reminded her and it seemed to bring a crooked grin onto her face as she gently bumped a shoulder into his.

The boring married woman sighed at this ridiculous debate. "You're wrong. We do need him. So how about we stop sitting around with our thumbs up our butts and prepare for the worst."

Zuko reached over to his wife's hand and squeezed it. "Agreed. We gotta start thinking long term now."

"Against an enemy we know nothing about." Suki spoke out loud. Knowing each of them were thinking about that small issue too.

Katara got up and stretched out her cramped muscles from sitting on the floor too long. "You guys come up with something while going to go and check on Aang."

"Unless you want to end up like that wall over there you be careful." Her brother warned her.

"It's Aang. He's not going to hurt me."

"The real Aang wouldn't." The man with a burned scar interjected. "But my father would. Just watch what you say to him."

Katara didn't feel like arguing with them. They were just looking out for her best intersts. "Alright." She said and then walked out of the destroyed kitchen and towards her room where she was sure Aang would be. The thought of her monk being sick seemed impossible. In all the years she had known of him she had never once seen him with any sort of symptoms before. Even after the storm they were, back when that horrible old man blamed Aang for turning his back on the world, he never got sick. If he could heal all of those people in Haru's village, how is it even remotely real that he is suddenly getting sick in weather that is warm and comfortable? Something just didn't seem right. Then again he was still just like any other teenage boy, or at least had the body of one. The Waterbender walked to their room to find a tall older man guarding the wall that could be opened by only an earthbender.

Katara smiled up at him. "May I enter the room?"

The man with the broken nose looked down at her. "I'm sorry to tell you this Miss Katara, but the Avatar has given me strict orders to make sure no one enters."

The long haired brunette gave him a strange look. "You must be joking."

"No Miss. I am afraid not."

"Did he give any specific reasoning for this?"

"I do not know. I'm just following orders."

The Waterbender sighed and smiled at him anyways. "Thank you then." She said and walked away from him, saddened by the fact that Aang had actually put a keeper at the doorway. The young woman desperately wanted to see and talk to him, but perhaps it was really the best idea to leave him be. She headed back to the gang who were now cleaning up there mess with a few other guards fixing the cracks on the walls. It didn't take them long before they were alone again.

"That was quick." Teo said just as he rolled over to Toph and handed her a stack clean dishes that had sat securely in his lap.

"He doesn't want anyone to disturb him…he even had someone stand watch."

"Odd?" Zuko questioned. "I figured he'd still be talking with Bumi. Maybe even think of something else to help us. "

The Waterbender shrugged. "Guess it didn't take too long. I doubt there was a backup plan for a suicide mission. I think we need to get our supplies and leave. There doesn't seem to be much else here anyways."

Toph put up the last dish from Teo and then grabbed a towel to dry off her hands. "As much as I like Omashu, I think Miss Sweetness has a point. We've been here for two weeks and it's time to be on our own again."

"Yeah." Sokka said. "It's time we move on."

"You think Aang will be ready to leave?" Suki asked.

"It's the only thing that seems logical at this point." Zuko spoke. "I will send another hawk to my Uncle and tell him of our plans."

"I don't know if we should travel just yet until Aang is feeling better." Katara mentioned to them.

"Maybe we can get him to suck on a frozen frog! It'll be good payback for what he did to us." Suki's fiancé joked, but then again didn't joke.

This seemed to make his little sister laugh. "Even if we wanted to do _that_, Sokka we wouldn't even know where to look. Aang kind of found them by luck when he was being chased by the Yuyan Archers. Besides I think—"

"Wait, what?" Toph stopped them both. "You guys actually had to suck on frogs? Ha! Now that's classic!"

The pony tailed boy gave her a dirty look. "If you weren't a girl I'd punch you!"

"Says the one with a voice that still cracks!"

"My voice doesn't crack!" He said with fury, but the word across in a high pitch noise.

Everyone seemed to laugh at him and the young warrior showed a little bit of pink in his cheeks. Sokka shoulders slumped and then tightened his fists into a ball. Then he felt someone open up his hands and intertwine them together. Suki gave him a kiss on the cheek, "ignore her." As always his anger with Toph dissolved very quickly whenever his fiancé was around. It was nice.

"Alright gang." Zuko spoke out. "Let's get ready to leave. Hopefully with some luck we can perhaps find another way to defeat these rebels."

"Yeah, 'cause that's how our luck _always_ seems work out." Toph mentioned to all of them. Seeing as how everything has turned out thus far.

OooooOooooOoooo

Flying with Appa while sick would be hard, but using his airbending abilities to soar through the skies with his glider proved to be a more difficult task. He had to make many pit stops to either drink some water or throw up some more. Aang thought about drinking some onion and banana juice, however even the thought of crushed food touching his tongue made him more nauseated. What really made him ill was the guilt of leaving his friends behind once again, but what choice did he have? They won't ever get another opportunity like this, which they know full and well, and there was no way he was going to let a simple stomach ache screw up all that they had worked toward these past two weeks. This needed to be done no matter what. Fighting like this was going to require a lot of hard work and his mind wrapping around the pain. He just hoped he could survive for more than the first round or this was going to be a short night.

Aang soared over the green lands that were filled with hundreds of trees. Each one gaining nutrients from the water stream. It was the same river that Katara and Sokka told him about whenever they faced off with Ty Lee and Mai. Ty Lee had apparently had a unique form of martial arts. She had studied the body well enough to disrupt that individual's Chi flow and temporarily paralyze them; removing their ability to use any sort of bending for a certain of time. Just when they were about to be killed Appa swatted them into the water to save their lives. The young airbender continued on westward towards the town that still looked like a ghost town. Between his fight with Azula and Zuko, the abandoned small community had been burned down to nothing but ashes and black wood that still remained attached.

The Monk landed about half a mile away from the city where their rendezvous point would have been. Aang, was already exhausted and low on momentum. Ironically, this was the same feeling he had when he tried to draw out those girls that were after him, but with Azula, both clever and smart, the firebender sought him out and quarreled. Once his feet touched land he instantly slumped to the floor and rolled onto his back to breathe better. He spat out the leaves that didn't seem to help his migraine and took out his canteen of water. He blew a cold air into and drank it with haste, spilling a lot of it on his firebending uniform. The young man wore the gray pants with a brown belt that went around his waist a few times, and a long sleeved raven shirt which had deep red and gold stripes going down his arm. It was carefully sown to his perfection in order so that nothing will reveal his blue tattoos, but taking it a step further he also wore leather gloves that left upper half of his fingers naked. To make his appearance seem more of a peasant look he had white bandages that wrapped from his elbows to his wrist, and some water tribe boots that he allegedly borrowed from Sokka. It was uncomfortable, so he had to cut the toe open and put wrap around the toes. Aang used a plain gray head band to cover the tip of his arrow and making him seem more of a civilian.

The Avatar poured the rest of the cold water onto his head, allowing his body to feel a sense of coolness in the middle of a place that was a desert. His throat felt like sand and as much as he wanted to throw up there was nothing else that could come out. After lying there in the mud, desperately wanting to sleep, he put the jug back into the pack that he used a number of times during his trip. Inside of it was a map that Bumi gave him weeks ago, Katara's necklace that was underneath a letter that the guru wrote to him, another jug that was filled with fruit juice that he squeezed in hopes of that substituting over food, his Airbending shirt, and an Earthbending pouch that was filled with the money he needed to get into the clashing duels. He then earthbended a hole into the ground that was deep enough for his pack and staff and moved a small boulder over the opened top so that no one would steal anything. Aang had debated on whether or not he should take his staff in with him, but the thought of losing it or someone recognizing it seemed to outweigh the issue.

Aang tied the patch of money to his side and walked the rest of the way there. Perhaps the dusty look would help disguise him even more. It was early in the evening with the position of the sun starting to disappear sluggishly. He wondered if Katara had knocked down the door yet and found a letter left on his bed that read:

_I have to do this. By the time you find this and if the guard did his job, then I will have hopefully infiltrated into the tournament successfully under radar. If you come looking for me, all I ask is that each of you tread carefully. Find the questions you seek and do not worry about me. I'll deal with the consequences when this is over with. I will not apologize for trying to keep all of you safe. –Aang_

It wasn't a great letter but he couldn't leave without at least letting them know the truthof his whereabouts. However, the Monk believed that even if there was no hint of his whereabouts they would easily know where to start looking. He meant what he said about no apologies. This had to be done. All of their hope and freedom was on the tip of a sword, and it needed to be dealt with. Aang looked up into the sky and saw that a storm was coming his way; a big one by the looks of it. The temperature was dropping and winds were starting to pick up but it wouldn't catch up to him by the time he reached the abandoned village.

After what seemed like a long walk he finally made it. Everything around him looked even more deserted; rusty nails that were aching to snatch your clothing, spiders that had formed new homes, some of the walls barely stood tall, and tons of footprints that were still fresh. Aang felt like there were eyes stabbing from every direction and it may be the delusional feeling but he was sure of certain somebody's eyeing him. He followed the trail to a two story home that still had a chime swinging against the wind and a sliding door that no longer worked. The Avatar let out a breath of air and took a step in to find nothing there. Just piles of wood that had been eaten by roach termites, shattered rocks, stairs that led only a third of the way to a nonexistent second floor or even a ceiling to cover the cemented floors.

"You sure you want to be here, friend? Only the crazies come through here." An unknown voice from behind him came.

Aang turned his aching body around slowly and found a man leaning against the shadows of the doorway. He flipped a golden piece and caught it without even watching the coin fall properly into his palm. The tall man still didn't look up at him from under his conical hat as he continued to look down at his bare dirty feet.

"Maybe I am crazy then?"

The dark tan man hawked and spat at the Monks feet just missing his boots. Then the shadow stomped his heel into the ground without moving from his comfortable position. Aang felt something rumble, but it wasn't from inside the room. The bald boy looked through the opened door and saw dust flying through the air. He took a few steps towards the door before the man spoke words to him. "Nah, you ain't. Crazies don't ever admit their nuts, they just think they're getting sane."

"Then why do you stay?" Aang got a little curious.

He shrugged with no care. "I show the way and get paid for every soul that comes. No questions on my end."

_Greed_. That was all that was the only word that came to his thoughts. What this man didn't realize was that he was helping a navy whose only purpose was to destroy the world that Zuko and he were supposed to help rebuild. However, things aren't always as you plan, and in Aangs case that was constant. He learned that the hard way after leaving all that he loved and cared about behind him.

"Do I know you stranger?" He asked after finally squinting at Aang.

The Avatar reached into his pocket and tossed him another gold coin. "Probably not," he said and walked away from the anonymous figure. Right in front of him were stairwells that lead down into the earth's core. Even with the boots on he could still guess that it was farther down than it appeared. Thunder cracked through the skies above him and small drops of rain began to fall onto him. He took one last breath of good clean air and ventured into the unknown abyss that called out to him. Aang walked down a few steps before the entrance was covered back up in rock and dirt. Darkness crept into his soul and caused him to open his palms to summon a small light to guide him to the path. There were many staircases that twirled around on giant cylinder which supported the ground somehow.

Aang stopped and peeked over the edge of the stairs to try and get a better look, but it was a blanket of blackness. The Firebender tossed down the light in his palm to see how far it was but the flame kept going and going until it too disappeared. He walked down those steps with more and more weariness drowning into his mind and body. After what seemed like miles of walking in pitch black, he finally came to a metal entrance door that was in the middle of two burning fire torches. He softly put his onto the metal door and sensed that it had to be at least three feet thick and just by looking at it its sole purpose was to keep people in. A small light came in on his left side where an old man sat in a dark cloak sat and two broad shouldered gentlemen standing in the background. What frightened him the most was the fact that they had 'x' marks over their eyes whenever they blinked.

The one with a pepper braided beard motioned him to come closer into the one lamp light. On the table was a long piece of paper with scribble written all over it. But he couldn't make it out. It was possibly a code or perhaps a different language. "Name?" he grunted.

"Kuzon. With a K"

He wrote it down with a crow's wing. "And your nationality?"

"Fire Nation."

"Do you have the money?"

Aang untied the leather pouch and dropped it right on top of the table, causing gold coins to stumble out into the light. The bigger man on the left picked it up and weighed it in his right palm. Tossed it a few times and smelling it the man came to a conclusion. "He's good," Gigantor said dropping it into a chest full of a dozen other colored money bags.

Then the second giant forced Aang up against the wall, spreading his arms and legs out and began frisking him to make sure of he wasn't caring any kind of weaponry. "Clean," he said with much practice. "Now give me your hand." The Monk did as he was told and then a small dagger came out from his boot. "Number?"

The old man counted while the guy continued to hold Aang's wrist tightly. "Seventy-three."

He laughed into the airbenders face that reeked of fresh onions. "My favorite number." And then he cut part of Aang's glove and carved the number into his palm. The Monk did his best to not flinch as he grinded his teeth against one another. Out of "courtesy" gigantor poured a liquid that was clear but burned heavily into his bleeding hand. After that the other man that took his money banged 2-1-2 knocks before the door opened. It was amazing how quiet the dark underground seemed until the thick metal plate was pushed open, by at least ten of the strongest guys, and loud music blaring into his face. He was quickly pushed in and the metal began shutting behind him.

There were smells of pipe tobaccos, extremely strong liquor, and types of green powder that he saw men and women snorting through their old factory. There were wooden tables full of gambling chips, card swapping, dice rolling, and target practices with throwing knifes. With just the first glance he saw older guys cheating and giving signals at the tables. There was also a board full of numbers, height, weight, and bending ability. Groups of people were yelling and waving hands in the air, trying to get a wager on the winners' pot. His number had just been written down and it seemed to be the final one. But why did they need his name if all they wanted was a number? There were definitely a lot of rich civilians as he walked through it and tons of exotic women that will dance for a shiny coin. Up above him were women swinging back and twisting and turning from a long strong piece of cloth for the men's amusement, while others would snag the men to a corner of the room where blood red curtains hung. Some might as well be wearing nothing compared to others. There was so much dancing too.

Aang continued walking through the crowd, feeling young girl arms grasping at his muscles and sliding hands on his cheeks. There was even one point he was sure one of them pinched at his gluteus maximus. At that time all he could think was "_thank the Spirits Katara wasn't here to see that._"This underground amusement was just as about the same size as Toph's arena of fights, maybe a bit bigger, and possibly about twenty stories in height. Aang continued to monitor all of his surroundings and found many guards posted in certain areas with swords snuggled all over their bodies for precaution. The Monk still wasn't feeling any better. The music was banging into his temples, all the aroma in the air was causing double vision, and it seemed like his legs were about to give out any second.

"Hey sweet cheeks" an older woman in a very skimpy outfit yelled at him. She was completely covered from head to toe in tattoos and had a green stick in her mouth that she continued to smoke. The intimidation woman came to him and started rubbing up on him with the music. "Do you need a small pick me up or some personal alone time? I'm the best at what I do," she winked at him.

Aang swallowed hard and released her hands from around lower waist line. "No thanks," he said politely and walked through the crowd again. Then a loud gong rang and the music stopped as well as all that was happening on the lower floor. All eyes looked up to the second story. He must be the big cheese in this place. The guy wore extremely nice silky clothing, but wore the same symbol that was permanently on Jet's back. Only problem was that Aang couldn't see the villain behind the silver masked face.

"Welcome! Welcome my friends, fighters, and all those who are willing to spend all of their money!" he laughed as did everyone else. "You are all here to bear witness the best of the best benders this nation has ever seen. Of course the only way to determine this is to fight!" The crowd roared at mention of that word. "So, we have decided to make a few minor rule changes. We all know that bending abilities can make you powerful, _but_ tonight this will be a street fight! Today, it's all about fists and blood!" They roared even louder. "It's time these benders play by mortal rules! So, if you wish you change your with my accountants I suggest you do it now before the games begin!"

As soon as he walked away everyone began running over towards the charts where, now, even more men that were guarding. Aang decided to go over and get a drink. Of course the bartender was a woman, a very pretty one and was actually clothed a bit more. Short black hair, gold eyes, dark skin, and seemed like the quiet type with a bunch of piercings all over her face. "What can I get you?"

"Don't suppose you have any water?"

She chuckled at him and shook her head. "Maybe you should head back to your mommy and get yourself some milk. Otherwise," she took out a cup and poured a light blue liquid into his cup and into hers, "drink up kiddo."

This wasn't Aang's scene at all, but as the bartender started growing suspicious anyways. He was no longer the Avatar here. Things he would never consider doing he would have to do to fit in. He had to turn into Kuzon; the dark, mysterious, firebender that would only seek money. If that meant drinking, and unfortunately partying with other women that Katara would easily kill, then so be it. The Monk had to switch the good side of him until he knew what was needed.

He grabbed the cup and said "to your health." Aang drank it first and coughed a few times before asking for another shot. It was a horrible burning that he felt go all the way down his stomach.

"Sure you want another sweetie? The kiddy pool isn't that far away," she teased while pouring another glass.

Instead of drinking the small cup, he took the bottle and chugged the entire thing without skipping a beat. It was horrible tasting at first and then it kind of actually started tasting like water. He then reached into his boot to pull out a few silver coins and tossed it her way. "For the bottle. And maybe a new piercing for ya hon."

"Hmm," she bit the bottom of her lip as if seeing how hot he was for the first time. "There is one place I haven't gotten it done yet. Perhaps you can be of service to me as I show you first hand?"

He gave a crooked smile, "not right now sweet cheeks. But perhaps you can help me with something else for ten silver pieces?" Aang said sliding the money towards her.

She looked around and took the money. "What would you like to know?"

"What is a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

The woman seemed a bit disappointed in the question, but felt no harm in answering it. "I was a servant girl at a tavern that is nowhere near here. I was asked by a man if I wanted a better paying job. I took it and they sent me here."

"They?" Aang pushed more for an answer.

She shrugged as she started drying cups from other customers. "Just ordinary guys. Kinda freaky, but nothing I can't handle."

"What's your name?"

"Tallia."

Aang gave her the same smile he would have given to Katara as he leaned over the counter. "Tallia. That's a beautiful name. Tallia, I don't suppose you can tell me the organization of this place? Or the one that set this whole thing up?"

The short haired lady said no. "We get paid well to be here for this one time."

"One time?" the Avatar slurred his words uncontrollably. He shook his head and felt a different kind of dizziness coming on. Aang's eyes then came to find a necklace tucked gracefully into her bosom. Katara would kill him for that and he couldn't blame her. Aang leaned back and tried to snap back into reality.

"Another drink Kuzon?" she asked politely and flirtatiously.

Suddenly the Monk couldn't recall if he had given his name or not. His mind told him to move on but his body wanted something more. "No. I have—I have to go."

"You sure baby? Come on, have another drink with me."

"No, I gotta go to the kiddy pool now," he said and started wobbling away. His mind began to get fuzzy really fast and the music seemed to be calling out to him. The women began swarming around with him, dancing all up against him and trying to get a hold of everything on him. It was crazy and unbelievable. He would've continued doing it until The gong rang again and everything stopped.

This time it was a different spokesman speaking, tall but skinny; perhaps a year older than Aang was. "I need the numbers twenty-one and seventy-three to the ring." Aang looked down at his fresh cut number and tried walking over towards the arena. The stone circle was extremely small compared to Toph's place, but this tournament was never meant for bending. It was to see who had enough skills to fight without their abilities. The sphere was balanced under the top of a triangle rock. The arena was fenced with nets hanging twenty feet high and the circle was maybe thirty feet all around. Aang walked through the crowd with sweat already pouring from his face. Another problem the Airbender had was that he didn't like to use his fists. Of course Sokka still taught him the basic maneuvers and Aang caught on eventually. However, the Monks had shown him a peaceful manner, but would he give all of that up when all the cards were down. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but at least with his bending he could control the situation a bit more. Bumi warned him that things might change and to be ready to adapt to the situation; easier said than done now that he could hardly focus. "_What was in that drink?_" he questioned to himself.

The Airbender walked up to what looked like an Earthbender with his lower face completely covered and told him, "show me your number." Aang did as he was told, and then the guy nodded up towards the big man that was now looking over the arena; the big cheese indeed. He stomped the ground that created a path into the arena and told him to walk and climb over the net. It was very difficult for him to walk a straight line and it seemed like the nets had doubled somehow in size after looking at them. As he started to climbed there were a few times he almost fell or got tangled up. However, once he did reach the top he flung his leg over and ended up landing on his side. Easily knocking the breath out of his lungs and causing more hurt in places that wasn't needed.

"Okay," he moaned out loud. "That was a stupid move." The other guy jumped off and touched down onto his feet, and ended up kicking Aang in the stomach as he walked by. The crowd cheered, but the masked villain raised his hand up to silence them all. Giving the Monk a chance to breathe and collect his thoughts.

"Fighters! You all know the rules! This is a street fight and therefore if any sort of bending happens, you will be killed on sight! And let me tell you now, my men are excellent marksmen. The only way to win this is to kill the one across from you. The winner will continued fighting until he is taken down. That means no breaks and therefore new blood will be mixed in with the last champion. And just to make things even more interesting, sponsors may buy weapons, rounds, and healing potions for you if they so please. Winner will receive five hundred worth of gold coins and have the absolute privilege of serving with the most powerful benders. And to make sure that the rules are followed, my physicians will personally make sure that each individual is dead before the next round begins. If you refuse to kill him, you will receive five whips on the spot. Fighters—this is your chance to prove to me that you are worthy enough. Warriors good luck!"

_Kill_. How could he possibly kill anyone? It wasn't even in his DNA. The rules had changed, but why? Do they want to see just how far people will go to achieve victory? But people would kill for a lot less than five hundred gold pieces. That was for sure. But another thing that confused him was why would they do a brawling instead of a bending? Isn't that what they wanted in the first place? So many questions and no time to answer them. The only thing that concerned him was how on earth he was going to have to fake death. How can anyone fake that when fighting against someone else? Was Aang actually capable of turning dark for a few hours in order to get what was needed? Could he actually watch that person die by his own hands? There was only one way to do it, but it could cost him everything that he had tried so hard to contain. His alter ego could be his life saver or his absolution.

Aang finally stood up just as the gong sounded, and when he turned around, the man with a long ponytail punched him square in the jaw; sending him straight to the ground on the first punch. The crowd cheered and laughed at the Airbender. "Ow! That definitely hurt." He said out loud and stood back up with his hands guarding his face a bit more just as Sokka taught him. The taste of warm rust started to swim around in his mouth and causing Aang to spit to the side. "Not bad," he spoke out to the much older gentleman. "Think you can do that again?" Aang taunted.

The scarred up man threw punch after punch after punch as the Airbender danced around him, just like he did Hide at school. At first the crowd laughed, but soon they began to "boo" him for not throwing any punches. Aang was getting him so tired that after ten minutes of nonstop air punches, the man with biceps the size of his head looked like he could barely jab against the wind. Now it was the Monk's turn. With his head still foggy, but adrenaline building, he walked straight up to him and flicked the man's nose. He wobbled a bit as the audience fell completely silent and then the competitor fell face first. The physicians rushed in quickly to see the results just as the mask villain had said, and they both gave a thumbs down. Now the crowd really 'booed' and began throwing food at Aang.

"Enough!" the silver mask yelled in an echoing voice. He looked down at the young boy and pondered about him for a bit as he crossed his arms. "You do not wish to kill him?" Aang shook his head. "This man would've torn you to pieces without thinking twice and yet you are not willing to kill him? Tell me why?" But Aang didn't answer as he stood there silently for a few minutes while everyone around him held their breath. "Very well. Rope him!"

The people hailed in happiness as the physicians tied a rope around each of Aang's wrist and stretched him out so that he could not move. They were kind enough, if that was even the right word, to put a stick in between his teeth so that he could bite into the torture. Everything seemed to slow down in the Avatars mind as the whipping commenced. It easily went straight through his clothes and touched his skin with the first swipe. As soon as the air touched it, the stinging began. Aang bit down on the piece of wood as he waited for the next one which was just as horrible as the last. His eyes rolled to the back of his mind when number three came around. Then number four with sweating dripping off him like rain. The fifth one caught part of his shoulder as he felt skin rip open and caused him to yell out in pain. The ropes loosened and the Avatar fell to his knees and groveled in agony. Suffering was going to be his ally if he chose not to kill. He knew what Sokka would tell him. _They were the enemy and killing them would be an act of duty when trying to save the world_. It was close to the same speech he gave about Ozai. There were times he wondered if he had killed the Phoenix King, would things be different? Would he still be the same Monk from when Katara first found him? Or would he be just another killer with the Avatar as his title?

Aang's headache was back and stronger than ever before. It was as if someone was kicking his head around like a loose ball that the kids would play around with on the streets. This was only the first whipping and he didn't know how much he could actually take before his alter ego would come alive. He was already feeling weak and the drink that he had partaken before did not help him one bit. His mind was foggy, and now it seemed hard to breath. He could barely hear the crowd applauding and whistling when the gong rang. The Monk was kicked in the stomach again and again and again. Then he was picked up like a rag doll and thrown onto the hard concrete with little pieces of rock and dirt squeezing into his opened wounds. Then the one that smelled of drink picked Aang up by the collar and hit him square in the jaw once, twice, three times, and then head butted him in the nose as he finally threw him across the arena and under the nets. Luckily the Airbender was able to grab hold of the net before plummeting down toward the bottom where spike awaited for him. Drops of blood fell from his chin as he pulled himself back into the arena and yelling out every inch of the way up. The fighter dragged Aang's back in by his black hair and quickly put him in a choke hold. The Avatar wasn't even conscious what just happened until he was losing his free will to breathe. Darkness was covering his eyes.

"_All you have to do is let go._" Ozai's spirit whispered in temptation.

Aang's eyes popped open and felt the guys breathing on his left ear. The Avatar brought the man's weight down on him upon his knee and feeling it break underneath. It was enough to break loose from the iron grip and sweep the legs. Then Aang lost it. He started throwing punches into the face of the blurred vision; left, right, right, cross and somehow something stopped him. He looked amongst the crowd as if he was going to find that someone. When the teen looked down he saw the face of a bruised person that was puking up red liquid. Aang fell to his knees and scooted back away from it all. Physicians in their bright white outfits came rushing out to check on the human being that wasn't moving anymore. But again they gave the thumbs down and again the Monk was whipped. His heart seemed to stall for a split second before the again came rushing back ten times more powerful. He dragged himself across the cement that felt like fire coals until he over to the ledge and threw up whatever was left in his drink. Aang definitely did not recall drinking anything red either.

Many soft hands picked him up and carried barely conscious Avatar over to what felt like a wooden chair. They made Aang sniff something strong, making him alert once again and barely able to keep his head up. He was given something to drink, but definitely not water but it no longer matter to him anymore. Aang chugged it while others began to massage him. He started coughing and finally noticed that these were beautiful gypsies. Half of their faces were covered with sheer cloth to see their smiling faces. Their perfume intoxicated his nostrils as they tried to heal him of his wounds.

"Wha—" Aang barely got out. "What's going on?"

"Someone just bought you an extra round to rest and medication," she said with a very strange accent that he had never heard before. It was heavy but fluent.

"The—they can do that?" he whispered.

"Just relax baby. We've got some time to kill."

Aang wasn't even attentive that the same woman was kissing him and slipping something down his throat with her tongue. Aang was forced to take another sip of whatever it was and was helped to stand up just as the gong rang. He shook his head out of the dizziness he was having and finally saw his opponent. This guy was easily six foot three and weighed about two twenty. He looked like the kind of man he once fought during Ozai's time as King. Only difference now is that this one had a weapon with him. Guess the crowd didn't like that fact that he was taking all of their wages away by surviving two excruciatingly long rounds. They didn't need a third victory. The Avatar didn't know how on earth he was even going to survive the next one. But before he knew it the fight was over with and the men in white, with red spots now, came out to check the victim. Again, not dead. He was whipped and someone bought him another round and medicine. The same gypsies continued to help him in those three minutes; putting ointment on his back, closing the cuts above his forehead, getting Aang to drink more, and apparently entertain him too. He didn't know how much longer he could do this.

"How you feeling honey?" the dark skinned girl asked him while giving him a swish of a drink that he could no longer taste. A very bad sign.

Aang could barely breathe. His throat was dry like the desert above him, it felt like someone was pouring tar down his back and decided to light the match. Body was soaking wet and every muscle in him was screaming for desperation. His hands shook from the weariness of punches, but the girls continued to put on this blue ointment on his knuckles. Aang looked down on them and swore that he saw white standing out of the red. Suddenly fear of his tattoos showing began to make his stress level go up. If they got even the smallest hint of blue ink he would be killed on sight. And Katara would probably bring him back from the grave just to kill him again. The thought of his gorgeous waterbender made him smile a bit, but then he quenched at something being poured onto his back to try and relieve the fire. His migraine now went down into his teeth and eyes, causing misery every time he blinked. This wasn't from the strain of being punched in the face, being whipped, or being ill. This was a spirit fighting inside of him. Scratching at every opportunity to get out and take control of everything in him. He had to keep containing Ozai.

"Agh!" he stiffened and wiped away the sweat in his eyes. "Who—who's buying, these rounds for me?"

The woman that was older than he whispered in his ear. "Just keep winning."

_Bong_! Someone gave the Avatar a push off the stool, careful not to touch his wounds, and causing him to wobble into yet another quarrel. He shook his head, thinking that he was seeing double vision but Aang stood corrected. This time he wished his sight was wrong. In front of him were two twin boys from the Earth Kingdom. "_Great_," he thought to himself. "_This can't get any worse_." They attacked him. Both were strategic in the arms of battle as they cornered him like two tigerlion's would do to a gazellezebra. The people were on their feet now. From a distance he could see a different pool of money going on now. Things were beginning to go all slow once again. What scared him the most was that no matter how many times he saw a fist coming his way he couldn't move out of the way. The Monk was side kicked from the stomach and another kick into the back of his legs, feeling a new sting as he limped on his left leg. The boys attacked him hard with knuckles in the face and nose, and with a fresh strength. The Aibenderwas starting to lose consciousness as the punches no longer hurt him. Aang saw a right foot twirl into his face and blacked out…

OooooOooooOoooo

_The Airbender felt himself falling. It seemed like he fell forever until he hit the floor with a light shinning from nowhere on him. He was back in his Monk clothing. The same one he had worn after defeating Ozai. There was no pain, bleeding, the sound of bones crushing bones, or the earlobe of a whip. He was healthy and it seemed like nothing mattered. No form of duty. That was something else that Aang noticed instantly. It was the most freeing feeling ever, however there was emptiness as well. What was this place? _

"Hello?_" Aang yelled but there were just echoes bouncing back at him. He tried walking out of the light but it just followed on top of him. He looked up again and nothing. His feet began to move fast and faster until he was in a dead sprint. It seemed like the Airbender was running into the mist of no-man's land, with no ending in sight and yet he still kept kicking his feet. Aang didn't know how long he had been running until he realized he wasn't even out of air in his lungs. No rapid breathing, heart racing, or the expanding of fear drowning in him. It caused the Monk to stop. "_Is anyone here?"_Aang tunneled the voice with his hands. "_Hello? Anyone?_"_

"You can't do it._" Aang turned around to find the voice of his nightmares, but shadows covered him. "_Why fight for a lost cause when you know I am going to win?_"_

"You don't know that Ozai!_"_

_His evil laugh still gave him the chills. "_Oh but I do, Avatar! If only you knew what was really coming. So young and naïve. I long for that vision of yours to come true._"_

_The Monk looked around and raised his hands in the air, "_then what are you waiting for?_"_

"Every plan comes with time and patience. I won't make that same mistake again, Avatar. The Spirits aren't even with you anymore. The Winter Solstice is coming and what do you think is going to happen then?_"_

_Aang swallowed hard at the repressing thought that had been encircling his mind for a time now. "_You won't win Ozai! I've witnessed these types of situations before in my years of travel. Even if you take over my body and cut me completely out, someone else will stand up to you and no matter how many times you dismiss them, a new person will always step up against you._"_

"Not if I kill them all. Don't forget what will come to pass. All that you love and care for will be destroyed by your own hands. And when they think of Aang they will see me! I will forever reign terror in the hearts of every man, woman, and especially child. I will have put a new legend to fear into the world._"_

_His jaws clenched at the Spirit that seemed to be taunting him now. "_I won't let that happen,_" he talked through his teeth._

"_Young and naïve. Such a pity that girl of yours. What's her name? Katara?_" The Monk balled his hands into a fist as he suddenly started to actually feel anger and every sort of pain rushing into him. "_Tell me, is she just as good in bed as you make her seem out to be?_" Ozai laughed as red eyes appeared in front of him.

"_Noooo!" Aang yelled with his eyes saw dark figure coming his way and then the Monk went after Ozai. He attacked it, but not before it disappeared into thin air. The light had gone out and now there was nothing._

"_Missed me," he teased the airbender. Challenging the young boy that had no idea what was coming. _

OooooOooooOoooo

No noise touched his eardrums. He couldn't feel anything. There was so much lust for hatred and turmoil surging through his veins. Aang's body was no longer his own. It was like watching a fish being plucked out of its environment and being tossed to the ground as it struggles to find water. Aang felt like he was drowning and desperate for air. Once every ounce of anger in his fiber was finally gone and his vision started to finally clear, he saw all kinds of people jumping up and down in sluggish motion. His feet started to feel the vibration of the cheering, the ringing in his ears started to fade at long last, and then he was slapped in the face from the crowds yelling. At first he didn't understand it because it was too loud for him, but it did not take long to comprehend it though.

"_73! 73! 73! 73!_"

The Monk blinked a few times at all of them. The same ones that were booing and throwing lettuce at his head were now chanting for his number. But why? What had he done to suddenly turn their heads? Aang continued to flash glances everywhere around while his feet started walking backwards until he tripped over something heavy and landed in something wet. His gray sphere looked down at a strange red liquid stretching over the cement very slowly. It was still fresh and warm against his hands. His eyes got bigger as reality started hitting him in the gut. His mouth parted at the scene. Life was being sucked out of him. Right in front of him were two motionless bodies. One of their faces was looking towards the people, but the one with a long goatee and hair in a half ponytail was staring straight at him with cold eyes. For ten seconds they did not move, then fifteen, twenty-five, and then the Physicians came running in to check. It didn't take long at all for one had given the masked man a thumbs up for the first time. Aang couldn't move.

The man hiding his face with a silver mask started to clap and everyone went silent. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we don't need to continue. We have a winner! Please give it up for number seventy-three!" He said and like clockwork, they cheered and hollered while some were suffering from post traumatic shock; most likely from the loss of losing so much of their money. Only Aang didn't hear any of it. Everything was drowning out again. _Blood_. That was the word the Avatar couldn't stop saying; _blood_. The masked man ordered his men to dump the bodies off and bring the winner to him. The Airbender felt strong arms wrap around his and began dragging him off. But not before he caught sight of blue eyes that were under a dark cloak. A tear fell from his eyes as Katara held her hand to her mouth in absolute shock and fear; the same face she gave him when he felt the life go out of her in his dreams.

Aang was dragged through all kinds of places, but nothing matter. He had taken a life. And not just one but two of them in front of his friends, and the woman he loved. Nothing mattered anymore. Aang was tossed to the ground in front of the man in rich clothing and still wearing the mask. He stood tall and proud with gloved hands behind his back to hide any hint of humanity. There were at least ten guards standing around him with weapons pinching against his skin. Only he couldn't feel the poking daggers. He was looking at the ground, at his hands where mixtures of his blood and many strangers coincided. The Monk found himself grabbing a handful of them and squeezing them tightly. No pain. He couldn't even feel it any longer. It was a small fraction of what it was like losing Appa. He felt anger, loss, and totally helpless. That was nothing compare to what he felt now; nothing. Everything inside of him seemed empty. He wasn't even aware of the man crouching in front of him had taken off the silver plate. But when he finally did look up, Aang did not recognize the face at all. He had long shaggy black hair with warn out amber eyes, but one was covered up with a bandana. He was very young, but it looked like he had aged twenty years. So much pain and hurt. However, there was a forest fire behind him. It was hard for Aang not to sense that.

"It's good to finally meet you, Avatar Aang." Ryuu saw him look at up in shock but really there was nothing there. That young face that Aang once had before entering the arena was now covered in his blood, cuts all over his lips, red dripping from his nose, and both eyes swelling. "I must say that I am impressed. The rumors are true after all." The Monk was hearing everything but it sounded like voices behind a door.

Ryuu saw the rocks he was trying to crush with those bloody hands of his. He recalled all of the rumors when he was a, for a lack of a better word, slave. The girls talked about him all the time in their whispers; how handsome he was, strong, and they goo-gooed about his stormy cloud eyes. They especially talked about Katara and how jealous they were of extremely gorgeous waterbender. Aimi talked about him, but it wasn't in a manner like the other girls. She admired him for what he stood for and how he always put his family and friends ahead of his own. All the guys he was with wished they had the power of an Avatar and save everyone from all of their pain and suffering. It was a dream of they each wished for on a shooting star, but as Ryuu looked down upon the Airbender it seemed like being an Avatar was a burden almost, maybe even guilt.

As Aang sat there he could feel his heart jumping at an enormous rate. Not because he was afraid of them, but it was something else. He hadn't stopped sweating and the punches to the head didn't seem to stop. His nausea was starting to kick in again and it seemed like his body was starting to shut down. The Monk had to stay alert though. It was the only way to get what was needed. He had to hold it together. Everything that had just happened, had to put into a box. Everything had to be put away for now. "Were they as you expected?"

Ryuu gave him a crooked smile. "It was even better. You don't seem a bit surprised that we are here? Do you know who I represent?"

"I do, but we refer to you as 'the Rebellion'. Perhaps you can enlighten me on the name?"

He pushed off his knees to stand up. "We go by many names, ones that put fear into the hearts of good people like you, but I'm sure you know exactly what we are called."

How could Aang forget that name when Jet told them for the first time. "Death Stalkers…"

Ryuu smile grew wider. He was in the room with his superiors and had to act as he always did. The young man became a different person around them in order to keep Aimi and he alive but more than anything it was to keep her heart beating. It seemed liked his own world was starting to revolve only around her. He never really believed in destiny or any of that fate crap, but after saving that scared little girl his perspective had changed. Everything that was being done was for all for her. He would get the waterbender out of there even if it kills him. But he came to taht realization a long time ago that his life would soon end and she would be free. And the only way was for the Avatar to know of the plans that were coming.

He placed his hands behind his back and smiled as he bowed to him with respect. "When my men first told me of you, I always pictured you to be—taller?" he lied.

Aang scoffed at them and suddenly realized that his surrounding were beginning to darken and it seemed like the world around him was shaking even though he was still. What was going on with him? "Sorry to disappoint."

Ryuu wasn't disappointed in the least bit. "You have been causing quite a disturbance Avatar and we are here to warn you. Don't get in our way. We know more things about you can possibly imagine." Unfortunately, it was the absolute truth. There were things that still puzzled Ryuu and it was getting harder to find the answers as well. Such as how were they going to make Aang join? Would it be as easy as the evil woman believed? Could threatening his friends be that easy? There had to be something else. Whatever it was they didn't trust him. Major Ren said that there was still too much good in him. However, if he was going to save Aimee, Ryuu was going to have to go to the deep end and drown to help the Avatar in the end. What scared him the most was if he did that would his own identity be forever gone? Would Aimee…he stopped his thought process. Ryuu had nothing to offer her. He could never _provide_ the kind of life a girl like her deserved; love, marriage, and a family to grow old with.

Aang spat blood at Ryuu's boot. "You're all murderers. You steal children and you are threatening everything that I stand for. And for that I will never stop looking for you. I will never stop fighting you until every ounce of blood is drained from me."

Ryuu nodded. "Then you will lose."

Aang wanted to throw up but he had to keep himself composed longer. He chuckled, "evil will never win. Just when you think you are about to, the table will turn and all the success that you have built will come crumbling down."

"And when will that be? Hmm? Another hundred years? Two hundred? You hope for too much, Avatar Aang."

The Monk stood up with much agony and soreness shooting through his legs, unaware of the warm blood dripping into his boots. With his right eye beginning to close completely, he raised his head up high. "You're going to lose."

Ryuu shook his head and decided to make the offer, knowing full and well what the answer was going to be. "This can all end, Avatar. Right here, right now if you just join with us. You could be more than a man and all four bending abilities. You could become a god. With you standing by us we could create the world in our own image. There would only be perfection."

"Is that what they tell you every day when you kidnap those children? Murder innocent civilians? Is that how you sleep through the night? Believing that what you are doing is for the good of mankind?" The tattooed Avatar asked in rage.

"Hmm…" another voice came from behind Aang. It was the kind of tone that made him think of a two headed rattle snake. The man brushed up past his shoulder and he felt nothing but cold. Aang wondered if this is what the "Angel of Death" would feel like when he would steal his soul. When the scary man turned, his dark hair was pulled back and clothes so tight that Aang could throw a pebble at him and it would bounce right off. He was muscular but there was plenty of fat too. "Well perhaps you can settle a bet between me and my pals here?" He said whipping the bottom lip with his thumb. "Which one of your friends will be the first to come crawling to us?" Aang's nostril's flared. "See there is this pot going around right now saying that the blind girl is going to go first, another believes the Fire Lord will beg to be a part of this great victory, but I think your girlfriend will be the first."

Aang knew he was pushing his button in high hopes of getting a rise out of him. "You represent the black spot in pure white snow. They would never join you."

Juro rubbed his chin. "Interesting and somewhat noble I suppose, but would your girlfriend agree?" He saw the killer look in Aang's gray spheres. "What was her name again? Katara I presume? Has an older brother named Sokka, daughter to Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, mother, Kya is deceased, and grandmother is Kanna who is now married to Pakku."

The Airbender was about to attack him until dozens of hands grabbed for his arms and hands to bring him back onto his knees. This man right here was important. Not sure of the ranking, but important none the less. Aang tried to focus on his face, but it seemed like every time he attempted it, something would flash in front of him. It reminded him of the times he would look up at the sun too long and when he finally looked away, Aang would blink and it was still there. His eyes kept seeing this white face thing. But he shook it off, trying to ignore it and yet it kept coming to bite him. With his teeth grinding against one another and now the adrenaline was pressing into his veins, but it seemed like he couldn't move.

Juro laughed as he crossed his arms. "We know everything about you and your friends, Avatar. But you really disappoint me. Your girlfriend? That's all it takes to make you angry, isn't it?" This made him laugh at the irony between the Avatar and Ryuu. "That's just typical. I guess you and Ryuu have something in common. Women screw everything up men. That's why you use 'em and lose 'em. Simple and no attachments involved." The men laughed with him.

Aang didn't know how much longer he could hold himself together. "Who do you work for?"

"You know what I'm going to do to her?"

The Monk practiced his breathing techniques through the nose, even though he found it difficult to do, and tried to clear a mind that was fighting back at him. The flashes were now starting to show fire; fire that was burning down beautiful trees and turning the ground to ashes. It was his vision. He was living the nightmare. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head, "who is your leader?"

"I'm going to hurt her."

"Who do you work for?"

"I'm gonna hurt her so much that she is going to scream your name."

"WHO IS YOUR LEADER?"

A smile rose out of him. "And while she screams for you I am going to make you watch every minute of it as I gut her open in front of you. And there won't be a damn thing you can do about it as you beg me to stop. But she will be the last person on the list I do it to, because I am going to start with the handicaps and work my way up. And just when you think it can't get any worse, I'll kill her with this." He pulled a dull knife from his boot that still had dried blood permanently on it. The same knife he used against Ryuu. Aang's eyes rolled to the back of his head and didn't know if he could hang on any longer. "Show us _Him_," he whispered.

Everything went silent in Aang's mind. Ryuu saw the whole thing happen in front of him. Eyes turned red, the shadows danced around his face from the fire light, and suddenly he started seizing on the floor. And that was when Aang's gang of merry men and women came charging in to save him. Katara was the first to splash water into Juro's face and freezing him against the stone wall. Mai, Suki, and Sokka took care of all of the soldiers with weapons, while Toph kicked a rock up and pounded it into one person's chest, but that same person ended up being crushed into three more people that came running in. Zuko and Teo took care of another few that tried to get through, but with little success. Katara focused all of her energy and used the full moons energy on the one with a bandana covering up one of his eyes. Without out even guessing, Ryuu knew this was the waterbender. Suddenly his arms and limbs were under her control absolute control as well as the others moaning on the ground.

"Katara?" Sokka yelled at his focused sister.

She didn't even look at him. "I got this. Get Aang. Toph, find us an exit," she ordered. Katara looked back at Ryuu and spread all of her fingers out at him, and stretched out his body in an 'X'.

"You must be "The Mighty Katara" that I have heard so much about." Ryuu said with great impression. "So it's true? You can Bloodbend?"

"Shut up!" the angry Waterbender yelled. "Who are you?" He stood there in silence as his men tried to get up but she kept them all down with her left palm facing the ground. Katara spread her fingers out even more until he was stretched him out to the point of agony. "Who are you?"

Toph grabbed hold of friends shoulder and whispered, "we have to go."

"All I need is five minutes."

"Sweet cheeks, you won't even get two. If you want Aang to live, we have to leave right now."

Zuko backed the earthbender up with Aang hanging by his shoulder. "She's right. We have one open window and we need to get out of here. Live to fight another day, Katara."

The Waterbender looked down at her Avatar for the first time since she barged into this room. Aang was in a lot of pain and he needed her attention now. "We won't get another opportunity."

Sokka shook his head. "And neither will we. Katara, we have to go. Now!"

Katara could feel each of their hearts beating. How easy it would be just to break every bone in their bodies, or let them bleed out until no more blood could be pumped. "Go! I'll be right behind you."

"Katara—" Zuko started to protest, but she cut him off.

"I promise I will only be a few seconds! So take Aang and go!" The Waterbender yelled and they could see that there was no point in arguing with her, so they took off. Once they were out of the room she looked back at Ryuu who seemed to show no fear of her. She walked right up to him and pulled down her mask and looked straight into his soul. "I've seen your face and you've seen mine. And the next time we meet again, I'll make sure that I am the last thing you ever see with that good eye of yours." She threatened him before knocking his lights out and ran like the wind.

OooooOooooOoooo

The next thing Aang knew, he was hearing uncommon breathing and his feet being dragged through the dirt. He continued to have flashes of black, then the earth, darkness, and then boots running at a fast pace. With his heart pounding and confusing noises surrounding him, it all seemed to blend into one nightmare. He could feel the breeze against wet clothes, and suddenly starting to get cold. The taste of rust was beginning to spoil his taste buds and it seemed like every muscle had been stretched to a pulp. For a minute he was able to come awake and saw Zuko and Katara hanging desperately on his arms that were draped over their shoulders. The Waterbender's hair was now in a mess and was in a one braid that hung off her right side. It was another new look and he had to admit that she looked very attractive. He looked up at her with droopy eyes and gave her a grin.

"Don't you dare smile at me you, Airheaded egotistic maniac! I'm going to kill you when all of this is over with!"

He tried to laugh but quickly realized that his rib cage was hurting. Possibly bruised, or perhaps fractured, but they didn't appear to be broken. "I told you that I would keep my promise."

She gave him a very angry look like Katara wanted to punch him. "Toph, we got trailers!"

The Blind girl looked back and already knew that they were being followed. Toph slid against the desert and lifted the ground, like a wave of water, and threw it at them. Zuko handed Aang off to Sokka and then kicked balls of flame towards the Rebellions as well. But still they busted through all of it. Sokka pulled out the monks bison whistle and blew hard into it. They all ran a little bit farther until they couldn't anymore keep going any longer. But luckily, Appa came to their rescue and swatted them all away with his tail. With Jet tied up in the saddle and Momo carrying Aang's staff with his feet, the exhausted lemur came crashing down into the saddle with his little tongue hanging loosely on the side of his mouth. Sukki and Mai had just hopped onto Appa quickly while Teo flew over them and dropped the stink bombs he and his father had made for such a time as this. The smell was so horrific that it caused each of the grown men to fall over onto the ground from the stench and giving them a brief opportunity to get Aang onto the bison. Sokka climbed up the white ball of fur and reached down for the airbenders hand. But he was too heavy for Katara to move. Toph gave them a lift up instead with, Zuko quickly running up Appa's tail.

"Yip Yip! Yip Yip!" the ponytail teen yelled and instantly Appa took off.

Suki looked back after all of the purple smoke had cleared and was now in total shock. "Guys! Where did they go?" Everyone followed her example and found that she was absolutely right. All those men that were charging after them like a stampede of buffalocows had disappeared into thin air. There wasn't even a trace of dust trail floated into the wind after the stink bomb disintegrated.

"That's impossible!" Mai said. "How can they just—dissolve like that?"

The gang looked over at the tied up man who seemed to only smile and shake his head. Katara looked down at Aang who had his head resting in her lap and saw that he was trying to stay awake. He was looking even paler and had so many cuts and bruises all over his face, that she could hardly make out who he even was. But the Waterbender knew he was still her Aang. The monk began to shiver now and continued to pour sweat. She continued to shush him softly and put a cold rag against his sweltering forehead. Katara took out a knife from behind her pants and started cutting off Aang's bloody clothes until she had him down to his swim trunks. Zuko was kind enough to put on the Monks pants, boots, and even a new shirt that had never been worn. Suki got out a blanket and tucked him in while the Waterbender help onto his head.

"Katara…" he whispered too low for anyone else to hear. Aang spoke a little more with his throat so dry that they desert would seem like paradise. "I—I don't know if, if I can save you…" His surrounding turned black one last time with the sight of a white skeleton flashing at him before its mouth opened up and swallowed him whole.

Katara felt her boyfriend shaking uncontrollably. "Aang!" She screamed out at him, but it was pointless. "Sokka! Zuko! Grab a hold of him! Suki put that cloak underneath his head!" Katara pleaded with all of them. And if that wasn't enough to deal with, Aang started coughing up blood and his paroxysm was getting even worse.

"Katara what's going on?" Sokka yelled as he sat down on Aang's arm and even that wasn't enough to hold him down. "Toph we need your help over here!"

Toph helped roll the seizing boy to the side and was able to lock her legs below his waist and put an iron grip around his arms to try and keep him from hurting himself or the others. Sokka and Zuko continued to help as well. Suki held firmly onto Aang's head that was wanting to break off from his spine.

"Katara what is happening to, Aang?"

It took her a few minutes to come out of the shock she was in and blinked a few times with tears in her eyes. "I don't know," she said whipping away the blood from his mouth. "This is new territory."

"It's gotta be the sickness!" Suki suggest.

"Aang doesn't get sick, Red!" Toph grunted through her teeth. "This aint no sickness! This is something else. His heart beat is off and this guy has a strange odor dispensing out of his pores. It's like it's…poison or something?"

Katara looked at Toph and saw that she was in fact serious. And then her eyes went past Sokka, Zuko, past Mai who was steering Appa, to the man that was tied up. Jet's eyes were steady and calm. He was trying to communicate with her. Whatever it was, Jet had the answer. "What did you do to him?" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Jet smacked a few times and licked his lips, but didn't say anything as he looked up at her. But Katara could see it through those dead eyes of his. The Waterbender slapped him. "What the hell is wrong with him? Tell me! TELL ME!"

Jet felt the ice cold sting on part of his skin and sighed heavilywith the rope grinding against his neck and burning. "Yes. I know what's wrong with him," the strange voice said through his breathing tool.

Katara grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought him close to her face. "What is wrong with him?"

"I don't know what it is called, but I know the symptoms. Crazy migraines, vomiting, delusions, and an intense fever. The seizures and puking of blood is new though."

"How? How do you know this?"

Jet looked over at Aang and back at the woman who was far beyond in love with the Avatar. "'Cause I have seen it done to some of the strongest men you can think of. And…" he confessed, "because I'm the one who did it to him."

**Well I don't really know what to think of this chapter. It may not be the same ATLA you guys remembering me writing, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things like I already said. But none the less I hope you Avatards at least found some parts entertaining. I know Aang keeps getting beat up and bad crap happens to him, but bad things happen to good people. And I don't mean to pick on him by any means, but it**** his story so keep that in mind. Now, the biggest issue is that Aang has finally killed someone and now you will all get to see how this affect him as the Avatar and an Airbender!**

**You guys know what to do! Please rate me; good or bad, I need to hear your opinions. Suggestions are still opened to those who want more of something or have an idea that I would give full credit to. Again, I like to hear your thoughts! How else will I know what I am doing is good enough. I know I can't please everyone, but I can attempt it none the less. Also, if any of you catch anything that doesn't make any sense let me know, because chances are you aren't the only one that doesn't understand it.**

**Thank you Avatards! Peace and Love!**

**P.S. I will be gone for a week at my family Lake House on Friday, and therefore I won't be writing at all. So the next chapter will take time. *******BUT* I will go ahead and give you a quick idea of what is to happen in the next chapter. KATARA AND JET ARE GOING TO TEAM UP (ALONE) IN ORDER TO SAVE AANG. That is all for now guys!**


	28. Message from Sportie07

Hey fans!

This is the first message I could get out to you! So, the reason I have not been able to do anything is because I moved! I was working on the story using the computer at my cousins house, but their daughter moved and she took the laptop with her 6 hours away. For the last 4 months I have been working and saving to get my own laptop. It took a while but I finally got a Mac and once my iWork comes (tuesday hopefully) in I can officially start writing again!

I am VERY SORRY that I could not messaging you guys! There is only so much I can do on my iPhone :/ The story is about 60% done but still needs work and obviously edit it so it will take time. I still don't know the area very well so I couldn't go to a library or school. I literally live in a country with nothing around me haha. At least you guys finally understand what's been going on and that I have not given up on this story. Again I apologize to my VERY amazing and LOYAL fans! I hope to get it in after Thanksgiving…if I can't, please know I am working on it.

Take care guys! I am writing for you and I am sorry if you thought this was another chapter but I had to get something out to those I couldn't message back. Can't wait to hear from all of you again when the new chapter is up.

Peace and Love

Sportie07


	29. Frenemies

**Hey Avatards! Been a while since I've said those words to you guys. First off I wanna say how sorry I am that this chapter has taken forever. It was a good portion of the way done until I decided to move and then everything was pretty much put on pause. I left my laptop at my old house for my Mom's sake because of Nursing School. By the time I got it back it was literally a piece of junk. I had SO many viruses and trojans that it was doing crazy crap to my computer. So when I got enough money I finally bought a MacBook and that was a few weeks ago when all of that went down. And then the holidays came and I ended up working double shifts. I pulled a 48 hour shift in less than a week, so that also made me procrastinate a lot more as well.**

**It's been a rough transaction to get everything back in order right now. I wanted to so desperately put this up before Thanksgiving so I can get another for Christmas but as I've looked at my schedule that won't be happening :/ You have all been patient and I have been getting a many messages from all of you! I'm sorry I have not replied to any of them once again! Can't do a lot on my iPhone unfortunately...Anywho, I am so happy that you guys are still sticking with me and believe that this is a good story. I will finish in due time. I have the ending already prepared and mentally solid in my head, it's just finding the perfect way to get there now. **

**For all of you KatAang fans out there, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there really isn't a whole lot of that in this chapter. There are others, but mostly this chapter is about Katara and Jet. And there I'm predicting some pissed off people maybe as well. P.S. when you read about the "Toph Twist" and still can't imagine it, YouTube ****_Submission of the Week: Chang Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia_**** to get a better picture of what I tried so hard to describe for all of you.**

**(Recap) Aang went to the tournament even though he was sick. But with a small window of opportunity, and the world hanging in balance, he ventures off on his own. His friends eventually follow after him to the underground tournament. Aang is getting worse, but he keeps fighting. Unfortunately, during one of the battles Aang kills not just one, but two people during his inner spirit fight with Ozai. All of his friends witness this horror as he is claimed Victor and meets Ryuu (an enemy to Aang, but in secret wishes to help him win against the Death Stalkers). Katara comes crashing in and saves Aang by bloodbending and escape with the D.S. trailing close behind them. When they finally "lose" them, we find out that the Avatar is indeed sick, but not in the right context. He has been poisoned. And Jet confessed to doing it to him. Enjoy!**

"Grab her!" Sokka yelled out with terrorizing fear in his voice as he witnessed Katara's blue eyes go blood red. Crazy eyes.

With Toph still hanging on tightly to Aang, Zuko made the jump and wrapped his strong biceps around the girls waist and arms, in hopes of keeping her hands under control. Especially, with the full moon shining its menacing powers onto her naturally tan skin and feeling the muscles increase in strength.

"Let go of me!" Katara kicked and screamed at the Firebender as she tried to thrash her way out of the those ironclads of his. "Let me go, Zuko! I'm gonna kill him!"

"No!" He grunted, "we need him alive Katara."

Jet laughed in that evil voice he had been keeping cooped up for so long. "He's right doll face. Only I know how to save your boyfriend."

"You set this up you son of a—"

"I had to have some leverage on you," Jet interrupted her accusation. "It was only a matter of time before you or Aang would kill me." The ropes around the traitor's body began to burn into his skin while trying to reposition himself a bit more comfortable. "Funny how things work out isn't it? I think this is what they call the old switcheroo. Or is it irony that I'm thinking of?"

The Waterbender got one arm loose and elbowed her friend in the stomach and tackled the man that wasn't even human to her anymore. The ropes snapped, like the whips that were inflicted on Aang body, and the sound of knuckles and metal roamed the night skies. It took them all a second to comprehend what just happened. There was so much anger in every punch. Her knuckles hurt from his metal plate, but she didn't want to stop. She and Aang had been going back and forth between letting Jet go or to try and save him. Saving him now might be a problem. For so long Katara believed he had died at Ba Sing Se. The man she had a huge crush on, the leader of the Freedom Fighters, was no more. The Dai Li had gotten to him first. Jet had been brain washed. With a snap of few words, he could be turned into a weapon for Long Feng's doings. However, Aang was able to get through to him in the end and Jet died the honorably; or so they all thought. Katara wanted to save him at the time. After leaving him there she ran the scene through her head again, but her gut told her there was nothing else she could have done. He was dying on the inside. And Katara couldn't find a way to fix him. She wished that she had tried harder now. If she had healed him, maybe he wouldn't be in this position right now. Katara wondered how different he would have been if she had taken the time to actually heal him, but Aang needed her too when fighting to get Appa back. And now, here they were; Jet was hung up on her still and had the life of the Avatar, the one she loved, in Jets bloody hands.

Toph let go of her once student Earthbender and threw her body into Katara's from behind and sending her to the ground. She fought back hard and tried to stand up, but the blind girl was faster. Toph hopped on her back with her left arm over Katara's left shoulder, as she grips her own right wrist under the girls armpit, while her legs hung onto the Waterbender's thin waste. She pulled Katara's back on top of her chest with Katara's heels pushing into the ground, just like the blind bandit wanted. Toph hooked her right leg and threaded through the bottom of Katara's, laced in it with her ankle and it locked down. Causing the opponent to be on her side while Toph's ankles remained secured. The blue eyed girl grabbed for her friends wrist and pushed it down, hoping to get out of this trap but was in for a surprise. Toph used the 'free pass' and put Katara's arm behind her head. In a quick swiss the young teenager put her arm under the Waterbender head and lifted it up to feel her temple touching on the insider of her forearm. She then reached with her left arm and made a figure four while pulling the Katara's head into her; a "Death Con Four" as it is politically said.

"Take it easy sweet cheeks!" the Earthbender emphasized each her words slowly.

Katara felt tension in several body parts, as well as pain in her knees, abdominal and torso. But the real pressure was on her cervical spine and causing a crank in her neck. She couldn't even breathe without something hurting. But still she tried to resist. Inch by inch Toph pulled her neck even more into her body until she could feel the slow pace of her best friends own heart. Dark cloud began to swirl into her eyes.

Sokka looked over and saw his sister's body going limp. "Toph let her go! Last thing we need is someone else unconscious at this point."

The short raven haired girl nodded and released her companion at long last. Katara sucked the air back into her lungs, as if she had been drowning, and started coughed uncontrollably as she rolled to her side. Slowly but surely catching her breathe and feeling the blood rush quickly out of her head. Katara knew that she was going to be sore tomorrow after that little stunt. But still she lay still with eyes close.

"Sorry," Toph said very flat. She then stood up and stretched out her body, as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Toph," Sokka spoke ease the tension a little. "What move is that? I've never seen you pull that one before?"

The Earthbender shrugged as if it was nothing. "I call it The Blind Twist. Hence on the twisting part."

Zuko got up from his knees once he too caught his breath, after Katara gut-checked him, and went to go take the reins from his wife, who still remained calm through all of this. They were heading into a storm and needed to find cover. "Toph, think you can make a home for us on a mountain side?"

"Can otter penguins fly?"

"Ugh, no?" the Fire Lord questioned dumbfounded.

"Exactly. So how about you stop asking stupid questions and point me in the right direction."

He rolled his eyes and signaled Teo to come closer, gave an estimate of how far away she was and then she jumped out towards him. Zuko admired how much Toph had come to trusting people. He was proud of her. She had so much trust in her "secret" boyfriend that she was willing to jump into the air, willing to be _blind _for those few seconds, and knowing without a doubt that Teo would catch her. It was a remarkable change from meeting her almost two years ago when all her life she had been on her own and Teo was a big part of that. They were still a couple miles away from the next mountain top and the flying kid pulled the cork out from the back of his chair glider, and went even faster than Appa as they left a cloud of smoke behind.

After Suki put some ripped clothes onto Aang's skin to help with the bleeding on his back, she pulled out a small container from her pouch and popped the top off. The Kioshi Warrior put the smelling salts under Katara's nose and instantly she shook awake in a complete daze. "What just happened?" the Waterbender mumbled under her breath as she rubbed her neck.

Suki put the top back on the small container and said, "you mean the part about where you almost killed Jet with your bare hands, or that Toph kind of knocked you out?"

Katara pushed herself up and shook her head to try and wake up more. Her knuckles ached from hitting Jets metal face and causing her to bleed a bit more. It was a little hard to even squeeze her hands into a fist. "Is he alive still?" she asked looking at the back of her hand, not really caring about the traitors well being.

"He'll live, but Aang needs you. He is in a lot of pain. I'll do my best, but right now I need you to focus and help him. Can you do that without wanting to kill the guy who probably can save Aang?"

The Waterbender looked over at Jet and saw that many strips of the ropes were just lying on the still figure. Apparently they didn't mind him shutting up a bit longer. Katara's face dropped as her ocean pearls looked at Aang's back. So much skin had been torn off of him. There was a lot of dry blood and so much dirt piling into his wounds that she could easily tell that if the damage wasn't taken care of then it would get infected. Suki had torn off his Fire Nation shirt and even took off his shoes, revealing the lightning strike scar; a wound that would never truly heal. An absolute reminder that he is not invincible. Not even in the Avatar State. Azula proved that with her powerful lightning strike that day in Ba Sing Se. It was as if her whole world had shattered into a million pieces. Time seemed to suddenly go still as she watched him fall from the air in complete silence. Now she wanted nothing more than to protect him and yet he is the most stubborn airhead she had ever met and couldn't help but love him wholeheartedly, no matter how many times he put his life in danger.

The auburn hair woman helped her soon to be sister-in-law up and went back to her wounded boyfriend. Katara decided to leave the bandages on for now and take a look at at all of his other cuts and bruises. With Suki cradling his neck for support in her lap, Sokka slowly rolled Aang onto his back without causing any more pain. The frightened blue eye girl wanted to cover him up from the cold as his fever started spiking. The Airbender continued to shiver. Suki got rid of most of the dry blood on his face that he had been coughing up for the past thirty minutes, but it wasn't enough. Katara could hardly recognize the face of the one she loved. His face was many shades of red and dark purple, and those lips she loved to kiss were now cut and scabbed over. The monk had a very deep cut above his right eyebrow that would require some stitching, Katara was going to have to pop his perfect nose back into place, and Aang's eye lids were so swollen that she could have easily mistaken them as plumbs. Drops of water began dripping onto Aang's mutant face.

"Zuko keep us out of the rain!" Katara yelled over her shoulder, but he just gave her a confused look. A hand was placed on her shoulder and making the scared teenager looked up at her brother.

"Katara it's not raining." He spoke calmly and sincere to her. "You're crying."

Her hands went straight to her face and felt how wet it was, unaware that she had been causing the small shower on Aang's clothing and skin. She tried to wipe away the tears but every time she did that it was replaced by more dropping from her nose and chin. "Right…Sokka I need you to reach into my bag and get one of my sewing kit and bend it like a hook and also find me a razor." Her brother nodded and rummaged through the Waterbender's pack.

"What do you need the razor for?" Suki questioned.

"His eye lids are far too swollen."

"What does that have to do with the razor?"

Katara swallowed down her own shivering voice. "If I don't cut them it will take a lot longer for Aang to see anything that's two feet in front of him. After I open them, I need you to apply pressure as soon as I am done cutting." Suddenly, they heard a loud "bang" go echo off the mountains they were passing. It made them all jump as they looked over to find dust and crumbling rocks flying down the mountain side.

"Looks like Toph found us a place to crash," Zuko said to his wife who only nodded at him. She had been acting so strange ever since they had left the Fire Nation. It wasn't a big change for others to notice, but Zuko noticed everything about her; whenever she smiled it was actually for reasons that made her happy and not to please others, she never dances but instead taps her feet to the beat, or how she would rather have sweets than actual food. Mai had been craving sweets like a two-year old that just discovered rock candy and actually became big meat eater recently. Zuko brought Appa around the mountain once, in case someone was following them and landed the giant bison onto the landing strip that Toph was so kindly made. Remembering how much the fury bison hated being anywhere he couldn't see sky.

Once settled they each helped bring Aang down. Toph had also earthbended a stretcher to put the Monk on and make things a bit easier. With the Avatar's weight it required all of the boys and Toph's uncommon strength to help bring him down while Katara and Mai kept him from falling off the flat stern stone. Suki got the rest of the supplies off Appa and quickly went into the dome that the earthbender had made for them. Once her boyfriend was on the ground Sokka and Zuko simultaneously went back to get Jet, who had regrettably woken up, and tied him up around the bison's horn just in case he tried to escape. If anything, Appa could at least bite him and throw the traitor off the mountain and let him roll down to his death. It was something they were all wishing for at this moment.

After they tied his hand up towards the heavens, Sokka bent down and lifted Jet's head up by his hair and brought out the hidden knife tucked away in his dirty boots, and placed it against his neck where an artery sat snuggly into the piece of metal. "You better pray to whatever Spirit that there is a cure. And mark my words, if I have to watch Katara lose someone else in her life you and I are going to redefine the term "falling on your own sword."

Jet's eyes crinkled from smiling at the threat that Sokka embraced upon him. "And if you kill me you won't ever know how to save him. Now unless you plan to let me bleed out right here and now, I suggest you back off and start playing nice."

Sokka pushed the dagger into his skin and caused a line of red liquid to trinkle down the traitors neck. It took everything within him not to just slit it throat and watch him grovel on the floor as he lay dying. The dream was just within his grasp. But he couldn't do that to Katara nor Aang. He would regret it for the rest of his life. Still extremely tempting none the less.

"Come on Sokka," Zuko spoke while pulling him off Jet. "We gotta go man."

As much as Sokka wanted to kill that treacherous conniving jerk, Zuko was right. If Jet proclaimed to know the cure then he would live. For now. Sokka gave his friend a threatening look. "Go on without me."

"No," the man with the scar on his face ordered. "Appa's got this. Right now, Katara needs her older brother next to her. She's gonna have to have someone to lean on."

Even though his brother from the Fire Nation was right, Sokka didn't want to leave him unguarded. However, if things with the avatar got worse than his sister was going to need everyone, especially him. He nodded and took off with the Fire Lord. By the time they both got there Suki was sewing a cut on his eyebrow while Mai held his head very still.

"Zuko," Katara said handing him a razor. "I need you to sterilize this for me." He nodded and flicked his thumb up, and burnt the razor until the she asked for it back. Teo had just rolled in on the landing strip with big handful of sticks in his lap. Sokka took it from the kid and put the thin pieces of wood up like a tent, as Zuko made them a nice warm fire to see more clearly. With Mai ready to stop the bleeding, Katara took the sterile razor and cut only the swollen areas to allow the blood to flow out. She then gave the signal to the Fire Lords wife to apply pressure when he was in the clear. Unfortunately, Sokka had to take over after Mai excused herself from the cave. After they had taken care of parts of his face, they rolled the Avatar onto his stomach and removed all the clothes from Aang's back. Causing the his wound to reopen. The cloth had stuck to him like glue.

"Mai?" Zuko asked as he saw his wife walking back in and whipping her mouth. She looked a little flustered and it wasn't like her to be queasy around blood.

She smiled. "I'm fine. Just didn't eat enough."

The shaggy haired brunette kissed her on top of her forehead. "Can you help me get the pot over the fire?" She agreed and helped him.

Katara continued to dig out the dirt and clean it to her best ability without using her healing powers. Aang moaned and wiggled in pain, but she knew it wasn't just from his back side. So much of his skin had been torn off unwillingly. There were so many dark red lines that weren't even an inch apart as they crisscrossed one another vicariously. She could see his veins were beginning to turn a dark shade of maroon, indicating the poisons outbreak towards the heart. Suddenly, Katara's hands started to shake as her own cardiac system began to beat so loud that it was causing her breathing to be out of control. She was having a panic attack. Sokka looked over and grabbed hold of his fragile little sister in his arms and slowly walked her to the farthest corner. Away from Aang as the other tried to help with him. He sat her down and bent down in front of her, not wanting her to see anyone else but him when she curled up in a ball and started rocking.

Sokka took his sisters face into his leathery gloves and made Katara look at him. With his voice raspy he whispered, "calm down sis. Everything is going to be okay. You are going to fix Aang and you are going to save him, because that is who you are. This is what you do."

She shook her head as the tears began to build up on top of Sokka's hands. "I…I—can't do it without my hands shaking…Sokka, I can't lose him again. Not like this."

The Warrior took a glimpse behind him and saw all of them pouring whatever water was left in their canteens and into the pot. Mai was tearing strips of fresh clothes and putting them into the boiled water. Toph just sat there next to Teo who both didn't know what else to do, but Sokka knew that the earthbender was listening to his every heart beat. Suki was checking all of his other wounds and seeing what kind of damage was done on the inside of him. Zuko continued to make the fire stay lit longer as his wife stirred the hot wet clothes. He looked back at those mirroring ocean blue eyes and said, "ten seconds."

Katara brought her eyebrows together in disorientation. He repeated, "ten seconds. That's how long you are going to let every fear and doubt take over you. Ten seconds is all you get to let it all envelope your heart. And then you are going to help Aang. Can you count with me?"

The Waterbender could hardly catch her own breath and didn't know what else to do at this moment. But she trusted her brother when it came to the man she deeply loved and gave him a nod. "1…" they both said and she let it all in. The fear of him dying in her arms as she remained helpless to do nothing. "2…" watching Aang being whipped for those he refused to kill and now he was about to succumb to the enemy. "3…" all those years of looking for the Avatar and him never wanting her to seek. "4…" living in a world without him to hold her and watch the sun come up every morning. "5…" Ozai taking over Aang and losing him forever to the dark spirit. "6…" not knowing how to truly live life without him by her side. "7…" how they would both look like as they grow old together and always wonder what their kids would turn out. "8…" never being allowed to him smile or hear his laugh again. "9…" the idea of never getting that tingling feeling when the monk would gaze upon her when Aang thought she wasn't looking. "10…" not being able to kiss those lips that caused her to drown in his passion.

Katara snapped out of her pain as she looked up at her brother with the fire light touching the left side of his cheek. She removed any evidence of the tears and Sokka saw the determination she had now and pulled Katara up onto her feet. "Come on. Let's go save your boyfriend," he winked with the memory of when he spoke those same words the first time they went after Aang. Back then his sister would get pissed off whenever he would "joke" about her and the twelve year old getting together, but Sokka always knew there was something there. Especially, the way Aang gawked at her when Appa swam them back to the Southern Water Tribe. The Waterbender gave him a quick hug in thanks and ran back over towards the mutually injured young teenager. Suki had stitched him up really well, perhaps even better than she could've done.

After the water had boiled to the point of steam burning their skin, Mai used the long stick to pull up heavy piles of tan clothing. Katara reached and picked up the hot clothe that torched her finger tips, but she pushed through the pain and squeezed some of the water out. "Toph, do you think you can form cuffs around his wrist and ankles for me?"

"Why?"

The Waterbender sighed in frustration. "Try to imagine someone slicing you with a sword a couple of times. And now imagine that same person putting boiling strips of clothes on those fresh cuts." Katara let it sink in for a second, "if Aang isn't awake now, he will be screaming in a moment."

Toph nodded in a bit of stupidity, "yeah I think I can do that." She pounded the floors with both fists and just like that Aang was straddled to the ground.

Katara sighed with the hot clothing still resting in her hands. She knew this was going to hurt him, but she couldn't risk healing him so quickly with infection. Aang was already sick and if not careful she could easily make things a hell of a lot worse for him. The long haired brunette laid the first strip across his already sweaty back and he screamed out in horrendous pain. His agony carried out into the mountains and bouncing off into the lands. It was terrifying and caused Katara to jump back in surprise; even though she thought she had braced herself for it.

Sokka reached over and covered the Avatar's mouth, in which case his sister almost stopped him until he said, "if they are looking for us we need to make it as complicating as possible."

With regret she nodded in agreement. "Do you still have that old leather belt of yours?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Aang keeps grinding his teeth in irritation to the pain. We need to put something between them to preventing anymore breakage." She converted, and reached to get another sizzling strip of cloth. Sokka scoured through the pack, throwing out things while trying to find the old brown belt that he wore before the Eclipse. The Water Warrior loved it because his mother had made it especially for him, telling him that the belt had special powers to it to keep him safe. And like any little boy who loves and believes everything his mom told him, he wore that thing even in his sleep. But when she passed it didn't seem to protect him from the pain of losing her to those firebenders. Sokka still kept it though. It was pretty small to fit against his strong figure and always carried it around in hopes that one day he could give it to his son and watch him grow out of it. Suki wanted a girl so that she too could one day train with the Kyoshi Warriors, and Sokka of course wanted a boy, but at the end of the day he would be happy because he and Suki would finally be together and have a family. Sokka would forever hold onto that dream.

Toph and Teo remained distant to let her friends work on Aang. There really wasn't much else they could do but wait for the screaming to stop. She grabbed onto her boyfriend's hand and not caring if the others saw. With a reassuring glove hand over hers, Teo saw that she was afraid for Aang. The blind girl could feel the monks heart pounding all over the man-made-cave, and whenever he yelled again the blood pounded away. Even as Sokka tried to cover the pain roaring out of Aang it was nearly impossible for all of them to just sit there and watch in hopes of finding a cure. Katara knew Jet was capable of hurting people and manipulating their feelings, but he went too far with Aang. Now it was personal. And only one would still be left standing after tonight. That she promised to herself.

After what seemed like excruciating hours instead of several minutes, Katara had put the last strip on to his half naked body. She found beads of sweat above her eyebrows as did Sokka too. They connected eyes and her brother gave her an approving nod in her direction and then stood up to stretch out his tense muscles. After it became a steady noise with only the sound of the firing popping, all of the intensity and adrenaline rush was finally disappearing and each of them felt exhausted. Sokka, Zuko, and Toph decided to go and try to find some food around here since they never really got a chance to pack fresh supplies. King Bumi was kind enough to get them water and more money in case of an emergency before rushing off to find Aang. Katara felt parched and knew her boyfriend was too. With him lying there on his stomach and head turned towards the east she spun water from the air and sent it into his mouth. He coughed a lot of it out and quickly laid there with his slow breathing. Every few minutes his fists would close Aang would try to hold his agony in, but a whimper would always sneak out. Katara figured he could still hear them and was desperately trying to stay quiet for their safety.

After some time the hunters had not yet come back. She worried about them, but she knew they would send out a signal in case something did happen. Zuko would send a flare high into the sky and then it would somehow explode in midair to help find their coordinates. It was a very unique trick and it helped in the past. Teo was on look out while Mai continued to make the ointment for Aang's back. By now it had turned into a thick light vanilla color with green leafs crumbled mixed in.

"Are you ready?" Mai asked a little too quietly.

Katara nodded and started peeling the once tan cloth that had now turned into a dark red shade. With steady hands this time, she took the first layer off very delicately in hopes not to open up the wound again. But the blood did stick to it and made things difficult as it started to make Aang wake up to the pain once more. He tried to hold his tongue as she proceeded to peeling until all that remained was his naked back with the same colors as before, plus a little of pink on the untouched skin from the heat. The monk's cuts were deeper than she had anticipated and felt blessed by the Spirits that it didn't tear into any arteries, nerves, or show bone cleavage. Katara wiped away the salt water that had crept into her lips and just starred at Aangs back. He would be lucky if his sky blue tattoo would heal itself back to normal, but his scars would forever remain. Azula's mark remained but not as visible. She wanted to cry and yet refrained from doing it until all was done.

"I can do this," Mai suggested as she saw Katara's face turning paler than the full moon that was trying to peek its head into the cave.

"No…" she sniffled. "I need to do this."

Her friend placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "go get some fresh air then while I go ahead and get started on this. You look like you could take a break."

Katara pondered on it for a bit knowing that Mai was fully capable of lathering the ointment onto the opened cleavage. She was just being paranoid right now and she knew that if there was a problem, Mai would call out to her. With her stomach still a bit on edge she finally agreed with Zuko's wife and told her how to do it properly. The dull woman gave her a reassuring warm smile in compliance with her instructions.

The fresh air made Katara's mind clear a bit from the smell of opened skin and blood. The moon shined brightly onto her skin, as if it was only she it saw, and felt its surging energy trying to dig deep into her veins. It was exhilarating and refreshing. She also felt warmth and what seemed like someone hugging her. Katara could only think of it to be Yue. Ever since she gave up her life for the koi fish that were the spirits Ying and Yang, and even after Hama teaching her about the moons powers, the Waterbender felt close to her at its highest peak. Katara was saddened that she never really got to know her more personally, but she had always liked her. She was very sweet and kind to everyone that she talked to, and she was also willing to sacrifice herself for the balance of the world. Probably the hardest thing for her was letting go her family as well as Sokka. The brunette couldn't imagine the courage it took to do that. Sure it was for the good of mankind but there had to have been some kind of doubt in her or fear. However, she did not show it. Instead she welcomed whatever would come to her. And now she presides to be the Moon Spirit. She always felt Yue's presence near them as she continued to watch over and protect them.

Jet hadn't taken his eyes off the radiance of beauty that the envious moon light offered Katara. "How is Aang doing in there? Still alive?"

She bit her tongue for a second and crossed her arm. Forgetting for a split second that he was not around. "Go to hell."

He chuckled the same evil notion that made her skin crawl. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon enough. But in the mean time I figured you would want my help in saving your boyfriend."

Katara finally looked over at him. Even with a ten foot radius she still felt too close to him. "Why would you want to help? You're the one that did this to him."

"I'm not denying that, but I can't stand to see you in so much pain."

She rolled her eyes. "So all of the sudden you're compassionate?" Katara scoffed at him in anger and hatred.

Jet shrugged, "a lot can happen when tied up to a flying bison's horn."

Appa growled and caused him to jump a little. Katara wanted to smile but held it back as she faced him. "What would it take?"

"Well personally I would untie the rope, but a knife is just as good."

"I meant for Aang. What's the price for his life?"

Katara saw the intrigues dancing those black devil eyes. "Sweetheart, there are a lot of things I want and I know you won't give it to me. It was hard enough to convince you to kiss me once and after that kiss you can only imagine what I want now."

The young teenagers jaw clenched in rage, still hating that one piece of memory that would forever remain there. "Screw you!" she turned and started heading back into the cave.

"Or!" he called out to bring her attention back to him. "Or you could give me my freedom plus some spare change so I don't starve to death."

Katara wanted to laugh at his joke but refrained from doing so. It seemed redundant to let someone like Jet roam around free with the possibility to still follow them and try to kill Aang or any of them for that matter. But her boyfriend was dying slowly and painfully. Jet was the only one that could save him. He couldn't be trusted either. Katara didn't know how much longer the Avatar could keep fighting from his wounds, the poison, and Ozai's spirit. She heard Aang coughing and turned to see Mai on her knees and dabbing the blood that came out of his mouth. Panic seeped through the Waterbender and that same fear that she had faced only moments ago came surfacing up as tears began to reflect from the bright white light from above. Aang was dying and only one person knew how save him, and unfortunately it was the enemy.

"Can you really save him?"

"Would I still be alive if I didn't?"

The Waterbender considered this. "Tell me what it is, and where I can find it."

He shook his head with his greasy hair covering parts of his face. "It'll be faster if I come with you."

"I can handle it," she quickly declared.

Again he chuckled. "You're so stubborn when you want to be. It's kinda cute."

"This isn't funny anymore Jet! What do I need?!" her voice went into threatening mode as she walked over and grabbed a hold of his collar.

"Threaten me all you want doll face, but this is part of the deal. My freedom for his life and I am coming with you. I think that seems fair enough." He paused for a moment as he continued to look at her. "You know this really shouldn't be that hard of a decision for you. Especially since you claim to _love_ the guy that's dying over there," Jet pointed with his stealthy eyes.

Katara let go of him and walked away from the tied up enemy and put a hand against the uneven wall to hold her balance. There was an aching pain in her stomach as she used the other hand to try and hold it all together. It really wasn't a tough decision. She already knew what the answer was but she tried to find another way. The Waterbender knew Jet wasn't going to give her the answers unless she agreed to his terms. His terms. Those words sent a cold shiver down her spine. She wondered if using Bloodbending could change things, but she shook off the idea. Katara swore she would never use it again. Unfortunately, she was seeing red whenever she saw the way Aang was being held captive by the rebels that were trying to interrogate him. That was the first time she had done it with multiple people and it was-terrifying. With a snap of her fingers she could have easily broken their bones in each place until they were paralyzed or having internal bleeding as they die with a series of agonizing breaths. That night they were all very lucky.

She sighed with a heavy burden. "Alright…" Katara whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

The fierce Waterbender turned around, "alright. You win, Jet." She whipped water from thin air and sliced the ropes as if they boiled noodles. The giant Bison growled ferociously. "That's enough Appa!" Katara yelled and saw that she had hurt him in those huge brown binoculars of his. She felt horrible for speaking to him like that when all he was doing was looking out for her best interest. Jet stood up and smiled under that armor on his face. Katara was pretty please about messing his face up. Still wasn't close to what Aang even remotely looked like.

"Thanks," he said gratefully and rubbed his wrists from the rope burns she had caused.

"Shut up!" she retaliated. "You don't say anything else to me unless we are going in the wrong direction or if we need to stop and pick up whatever is needed to help Aang. You got that?!"

He popped his knuckles. "Fair enough."

"So…" Katara said placing both hands on her hip. "Where do we go from here?"

"It's a day's journey on foot there and back, but if we took Appa—" he suggested.

"No!" she quickly said. It probably would be quicker with the bison flying them, but if something went wrong or this was a trap they would need to fly Aang somewhere else to try and save him. If this didn't work Appa was the only one that could save him. "I hope you got enough rest because you're going to need your strength."

OooooOooooOoooo

Mai continue to try and keep Aang as comfortable as possible. Teo decided to roll down the mountain side because he wanted to explore a few things, but mostly he wanted to test out the adjustments he had made on his wings and needed to pick up speed. Apparently, a steep mountainside was perfect for this new gadget of his. He was a real daredevil and it seemed like his disability never got in the way. She admired him for that and liked that he knew how to take care of himself. The monk started mumbling again as she dabbed the sweat glowing off his eyebrows while mumbling cryptic things and even yelling.

"Noooo!" Aang tried to roll over, but Mai held him down. "I told youuuuu!" he screamed passionately and began hyperventilating. "Nooooo!"

The raven haired girl tried to calm him and keep his face from touching the dirt, but it was impossible while he kept switch cheeks to lie on. She quickly put more of the ointment onto his sticky back which seemed to calm him, but his words never stopped pouring out. Aang said all of their names, leaving Katara's for last. The way he spoke each of them made it seem like he was losing them in some form or manner. Mai had tried to wake him but he would not budge. He was trapped in whatever monstrous nightmare he was having.

Minutes later, everyone came back carrying something. On Sokka's right shoulder was a rope wrapped around six small fox rabbits that were going to be used for their dinner. Zuko was able to find some dry sticks to keep the fire going. Toph was empty handed and Suki seemed to holding strange leaved tucked into a bag. Teo came flying back in with his hair all wet and parts of his hair had icicles on him as he quickly rolled towards the fire to warm up. The young boy took off his wet gloves and shirt so as to avoid the small breeze blowing in.

"Where'd you go?" Zuko asked confused with the hot fire brightening the side of his face.

"I j-j—just want—ted to seee how far my wu—wings could l-l-l-last in freezing temperatures," his teeth chattered. "B-b-b-but my theory was cut offfffff when I cc-couldn't bru-breathe anymore. I don't kno—know how Aang does it in that altitude," Teo confessed shaking off the melting ice in his hair.

Toph shook her head with a humorous laugh, "and that is exactly why I prefer being on the ground."

He sniffed back his snot, "well it was worth-th it."

"Says the guy with a stuffed up nose," she joked and knew that Teo grinned back.

Suki walked over towards Aang as her fiancé started skinning the fox rabbits for their dinner, and sat against her calves. "How is he?"

Mai shrugged, "don't know."

The redhead nodded, "well maybe these can help." She said and pulled out some fuzzy minty leaves from her bag. They looked so soft and had the touch of what a cloud could feel like. "They are called Lamb's Ear on Kioshi Island, but most refer to them as Big Ear. I figured we could use them to place on Aang's so that he can on his back instead. Perhaps make him a bit more comfortable."

The Fire Lords wife reached over and rubbed the long green-gray leaves in between her fingers. She agreed to her idea in hopes that Suki had a lot of them in the bag of hers. By the time they had finished, the Avatar's back was covered in the comfortable green leaves that stuck to the ointment. Toph released his wrist and ankles from the ground, and helped pushed him onto his back which proved to be difficult at first until the earthbender used the floor to help roll Aang over. Both of them gasped at what they saw. The whole gang quickly encircled around the now quiet monk to witness the horror. Aside from the broken ribs, and hundreds of yellow purple spots everyone on the Avatar's body, his veins were no longer the same color; both of his arms, part of his lower torso, and even his legs revealed a mixed red and black liquid racing into the once blue lines. Suki and Zuko examined it a bit more closely to try and understand what exactly was happening. They knew it was the poison but neither of them or the others had ever seen something like this before. Teo explained every detail to Toph and she no longer had her poker mask on as concern swarmed to overwhelm.

"How long does he have?" Zuko asked Suki who hadn't said another word to them. As a Kyoshi Warrior she prided herself on knowing the types of poison, how to prevent it. Going to help was dangerous enough if those Death Stalkers were lurking around every corner and turning ever stone.

She shook her head and removed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know…maybe eighteen hours, or twenty-four depending if all of our luck hasn't been wasted today."

"Can you slow it down perhaps?" Sokka suggested, not caring that his skinless meat was starting to attract flies and dirt.

Momo cam from no where and began nuzzling Aang to wake up. His purring became sadder as little one curled up into a ball next to cheeks. It broke all of their hearts that even the little lemur couldn't find happiness in a rough situation. Suki breathed heavily. "I'm not sure…I don't see any area where he could've been injected with it. But the one thing I do know that it has been pumping through his blood for days."

"Why haven't we noticed the side effects or seen the color of his skin?" Teo questioned too.

"Guys I do not know!" she yelled not at them but at the frustration of what she didn't understand. Suki rubbed her face and ran fingers through her hair. "Maybe we weren't paying attention, maybe something has to trigger it? It's a hunch more than anything…"

"What are you thinking?" Teo wondered.

She opened up Aang's eyes and saw that his pupils were still working, but he still looked to be in a gaze. "We all know how a sword is forged. It takes time, and patience to have a perfect balance. But in the end, after all of the heat, grinding, and hardening you put into it, we all know that the key ingredient to making a sword is dipping it cold ice water."

"So, we are comparing Aang's poison to forging sworda?" the Earthbender questioned her friends motive.

"It's a step by step process of heat and compounding, and without the ice cold water the sword can never be sturdy or strong to defend with. This was a series of events and someone just put Aang in the freezing water."

Everyone became silent in the dancing fire. Each of them trying to figure out if they too were in the same position, but quickly figured out that this was only meant for the one person they all loved. How could any of them have not seen it? Poisoning Aang seemed impossible to do. They always had their guards up. But when behind friendly walls it was very easy to take a breath and blink. These people were more capable to kill than they had imagined until now. These people, if they were in fact human, were far worse than ten Jet's running around. Perhaps more frightening that Ozai himself.

"Wait a second," Toph suddenly stopped their minds from spinning around. "Where's Katara at? And Jet?"

Everyone looked at each other and in an instant they all moved to the outer rim of the cave and saw just Appa there, sleeping. They had really pushed him again to catch up to Aang and he was exhausted. Each ran over to him in high hopes that Jet was somehow hanging on the other side of the cliff and found nothing. The moon was like a bright light to them and in an instant Zuko bent down and picked up the tied up rope that had been cut in half. He stood up and handed it over to Sokka so he could examine it a bit more.

"It's a clean cut," Sokka proclaimed. "There's no way he cut himself free. Someone else did it…"

"You guys don't think—" Toph suggested.

"No way! Katara is not that stupid to do that," the Warrior spoke before the earthbender even said his sisters name.

"This is Katara we are talking about though. This is the same girl who would go to the ends of the earth to ensure the Avatars safety, who just so happens her boyfriend. So, the real question is why were we stupid enough to leave her alone with him?"

OooooOooooOoooo

Since Katara had freed Jet they did nothing but nonstop running. He kept up with her, pointing which direction to go here and there. But after running for half a day with no food in their bellies they were tired to the bone. With her muscles screaming out for Katara to stop she pushed on and pressing Jet at the same time. All she could think about was Aang. Knowing that she should be there taking care of him and holding his hand while whispering that everything was going to be okay, but everything wasn't. The Avatar was dying sluggishly. She couldn't just stand by and watch him suffer any longer. Did she trust Jet? Absolutely not. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Katara believed this at all times when she was around Jet. As soon as this was over with the problem would be taken care of forever and none of the would ever have to deal with him again. Jet looked over and saw a giant bolder and started straying towards it and away from Katara, until he was leaning against it with both hands on his knees.

"Hey!" she could barely yell out at him and realized no words came out of her dry throat. "Wha—what are you doing?! We have to keep moving," Katara barely got the last sentence out.

Jet took his time to catch his breath before finally standing taller than she. "We need to take a break."

"No!" she said angrily. "We—we gotta keep going!" Katara was indeed exhausted and wasn't going to show weakness in front of him. Everything on her body was sore thanks to Toph's doing, even though it was a necessary evil none the less. The bright sphere was still high but it seemed that it wasn't helping her physically. Aang was in this because of Jet and she wasn't going to allow him any space to breath.

Jet rolled his eyes, "look I know you want to find the cure but we can't do it without our strength diminished. Ten minutes. That's all I ask," he pleaded and saw the sweat dripping off her delicate skin.

"I said no!" her face grew more and more red as precious seconds were being wasted.

He raised his hands up in defeat, "fine. You keep running and I'll stay here," Jet proclaimed and started to pick up sticks here and there and putting them into an upwards pile. And being the stubborn Waterbender, that he knew, Katara kicked his little masterpiece away. It didn't surprise him in the least bit

"Aang is dying because of _you_! We are in this mess because _you_ poisoned him! Even after Aang tried to give you chance after chance and even defending you! I pray the Spirits will let you rot in hell."

Jet wasn't offended by her words. Hell was a place for evil people and he was way beyond that point. He was already living this Hell. Even the Underworld doesn't have a place for souls like his. "I deserve that, but again I am going to build a fire. If you'd like to keep running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off, then please be my guest, but if you want to save your precious Avatar then shut up and let's take a ten minute break. After that we can continue on our quest, got it?" Jet said picking up the sticks again and piling them.

It took everything in Katara to not grab a stick and stab where, she assumed, his heart would beat. Then again a man, or things like Jet, doesn't have a heart. Ten minutes could be all that stands between life and death for Aang and he wanted to take a break. No matter how much she pulled he was going to pull back. He knew how to push her buttons. If there was one thing she knew about, Jet was the fact he could manipulate anyone. Katara considered bloodbending these last few minutes. And as much as she wanted to hurt him, the Waterbender just couldn't. There was always consequences that came along with it. It was like dipping into the most deepest, darkest place inside of her and using it against others. Every time she would use it it felt like a part of her was being chipped away. And no matter what she could always hear Hama's voice echoing through her. Complimenting her and even sometimes it was as if that witch was still instructing her. Even when Katara saw those men holding Aang hostage, she flipped the switch. There was so much power. When she did it to those Death Stalkers, she liked it a lot. The idea to control people like them was beautiful poetic justice and they deserved it. But whether they deserved it or not, her greatest fear was to become like Hama. A bitter conniving old woman with so much hate and the pleasure of being a puppeteer. This was Jet's game and if she didn't play by his rules, Aang will never be saved. He had obviously been tortured and broken over and over, so there was no point in thinking about bloodbending right now.

"Fine," she finally spoke after standing there for what seemed like a very long time. "Ten minutes. That's it. And then we leave, got it?"

There was amusement on his face. "Aye, aye, Captain Katara." He quickly went back to work and before she knew it, Jet had a fire blazing. And for a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of little hoppers chirping to themselves. It was somewhat peaceful as she watched the red and yellow fight for a chance to touch her skin. But her guard was never down. Sitting there, she all of the sudden wanted to fall asleep until Jet opened his big mouth. A blessing in disguise, until she heard the words.

"You seem tense," he pointed out so vigorously while inching closer to her. "Do you need a massage?"

Katara gave him the most dirty look she could conjure. "Say something like that again and it will be the last thing you ever speak."

"Oohh kinky too. You know, I've been told that I have magical hands. And if you are lucky, I'll show you what I can do with my fingers." Jet smiled underneath as his eyes trailed from her chest, past her waist, and stayed locked between her legs. A very subtle hint.

The Waterbender's nails pierced into the earth and felt the water seep up from the ground and splashed it all into Jet's face, and freeze it. It was a deja vu of what she did to Combustion man just before he was about to use his brain to shoot fire in Aang's direction. The weight of the ice brought the half man to the floor. This caused her to smile and before she knew it, Katara was in tears from laughing so hard while Jet tried to bang his head against a tree. Even when he placed his head over the fire to try and melt it, he ended up falling into it. This was probably the greatest thing in the world to her. But after all her fun and watching him suffocate some, she pulled the water off his face and placed it back into the ground. After coughing and wheezing for a few minutes Katara was finally starting to calm her giggling.

"Okay, I suppose I deserved that one."

She raised an eyebrow, "you suppose?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, I deserved it. Can't blame me for trying though." Jet really wasn't mad at the feisty Waterbender in the least bit. "However, I did get something out of it."

"Oh really?" Katara questioned and removed a strand from her face, "and what is that?"

Jet shrugged. "I made you laugh didn't I?"

She rolled her eyes at the snake charmer. "Someday that mouth of yours is going to kill you."

"Why do you think they muzzled me?" he joked in reference to his metal plate.

But even through the joke she could see he was absolutely serious. They did something to him, worse than anything else. These Death Stalkers broke him. And once broken a person can never be the same. And Spirits only knows what else was done to him physically as well. As much as he probably deserved it, no human being should ever go through what he endured. No matter how horrible they may appear. In a small manner she too was beginning to believe that perhaps there was a small part of the real Jet still there. One thing she loved about Aang is that he tries to see the good in others. It's also the one thing that always got them into trouble and when they also had their greatest adventures.

"Jet why are you doing this?" Katara asked, still keeping up with the time. "This can't be about me, or Aang. There is something else."

"Now why in the world would you think that?" Jet seemed intrigued by this theory.

"Call it a hunch. More than anything I think you love the idea of being in love with me," Katara suggested. The fire was starting to dim down a little bit more as the blanket of cold started to creep back around her skin. Her heart had slowed down and time seemed to want to freeze.

Jet laughed and leaned to the right on his elbow and feet stretched out in a comfortable position. "Hmm, that is quite a theory. So tell me then, why would I stay around if I could've escaped at any time I wanted?"

"Well assuming that you could've escaped at any time, you obviously never did. Which means they have something on you. A person is never free when someone else has something you. They can release you and let you roam free, but just like a trained dog, you will always come back." And that was when she saw it. A tweak in the eye that gave away his bluff. "I'm right, aren't I?"

The shaggy brunette picked up a tiny rock and tossed it into the fire. "What else is left for me to go back to? Maybe I prefer screwing up your relationship with Aang. Maybe I like being her with you and enjoying your sweet presence, rather than the stench of slaves."

This ticked her off even more. "Is that what you really see them as? Slaves?"

He tsked his teeth, "that's exactly how I see them."

She shook her head. "The Jet I knew, a Freedom Fighter, would never have allowed this. He would've found a way to free them. Probably not in the right manner, but you would still try. You once fought and died to protect Aang...whatever happened to that guy?" Katara pushed it farther to maybe get him to see the light. "The guy I fell for, before finding out his true nature."

For the first time since the fire he looked up at her blue eyes and saw that what she had spoken was not a joke, but absolute sincerity. She wasn't lying. Jet always knew she had feeling towards him. The first time he held her in the arms while being pulled up into their hiding of the trees there was a connection. Katara was always nervous around him and there were times he caught the beautiful waterbender blushing around him. But the young man liked her bravery and he also quickly learned that this girl could hold a grudge for the longest of time. When Jet found Katara in Ba Sing Se, while searching for Appa after being brainwashed, that girl was so fired and ready to attack him. She had also gotten better at waterbending. The blue eyed heartthrob didn't have to blow wind to freeze the water like she before, but could summon crystal ices at will. Katara went from an amateur naive teenage waterbender and became a Master and more beautiful than any other woman he had recalled. And he too had had his fair share of woman; both exquisite and too drunk to care for looks.

"Took you long enough to admit those feelings you had for me," Jet said in a hollow voice that was no longer his own.

Katara nodded, "yes. I admit it. Once upon a time, I had a big crush on you and then I saw your true self. And when we left you with your friends at Lake Lao Gui, I realized how childish I was towards you. Even if they were for the right reasons."

"You had a right to be angry with me and I deserved what came afterwards..." He paused a moment and looked at the tiny smoke beginning to fade into the wind. "If things were different, if I hadn't messed up with everything, do you think that things could've been better between us?"

The Waterbender cleared her throat, "Jet-please no more. There is nothing you can say or play the 'if' game with me to change my heart. I know what I want, the question is what do you want?"

"I want you," he admitted.

The light on Katara's face grew more stern as she looked up to the stars that started winking back at her. "The wanting you have for me is a vail. An illusion you use. You want something far greater than my affactions. One thing I have learned about you, Jet is that it's never a one sided reason either. I will ask you one last time, why did they pick you? What are they holding against you?"

"...answer me a question and I will give you what you want."

Katara knew it was a trap and Aang was running out of time. She could deny it and waste more precious seconds arguing or the warrior could continue the game. "Ask what you will and make it fast."

He complied with the impatient woman. "If you had saved me that day at Lake Lou Gai, and I earned my stripes on your team, do you believe we could've worked out? And be honest. Aang's life depends on it."

There he went again, being the sinister man he was. Lesser of a man and more machines that was keeping him alive. Katara knew he could read her and vice versa. She was going to have to give him a real answer and admitting this would define everything tonight. If she lied he would let the Avatar die and if the truth was spoken, he may never let go of her. Bloodbending was out of the question. She would not become that monster t. As much as she wanted to lie, Katara couldn't risk Aang's life for a mistake.

She slowly nodded. "...yes. I believe it could've worked out between us..." Right then the Waterbender saw the real Jet peek from under his eyebrows. A glimpse of hope that they could still be.

"I knew I would win," he sighed in relief. Seeing that she was indeed telling the truth.

"It was never a competition, Jet. I still believe with my whole heart that even after you and I had out little thing, I would fall eve harder for Aang. When we first met I thought of him as nothing but a little sweet brother. He became my friend and not long after that he began to mature and even became wise for his age. He was there for me when I needed someone. And after all we went through I began to develop feelings when he died a few days after you."

Jet brought his eyebrows together, unaware that the Avatar had passed away. "He died? How?"

"Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, sent a bolt of lightning straight through him."

There was actually compassion in his composure. Even though Jet would never admit to it. "How-how did he come back to life?"

Katara didn't want anyone, especially a member of the Death Stalkers to know of her Northern family. She shrugged, "I saved him. That's all you need to know."

The fire had at long last died out to little flamed dots, but with the moons bright light he could still see her. He recalled the day he died. The way Katara looked at him. She had felt so helpless when her healing abilities couldn't save him. If the Death Stalkers knew about this, they would hold her value as to the Avatar's. Apparently, the waterbender had acquired some sorcery to bringing back the dead. Not even they knew how to do this. They have been seeking the power to posses this immortality. Even if they did find this weapon, the only person that could do something like that again would be Katara. He doubted anyone else possessed her gift. How can he keep such valuable information from those he was loyal to?

"Now it's my turn," Katara said breaking his deep thoughts. "Why are you really doing this?"

"...you once told me that Firebenders took the life of your mother. If you had the opportunity to find the killer, even if it means giving your soul, would you do it?" Jet asked and watched her careful to take account of every breath and muscle tension.

Even though he answered her with another question, Katara finally understood why he became what he is now. Jet never got closure on his past life. There was regret and shame that still lingered. Which also meant that his humanity could possibly be saved. They may have shattered him, but this was the only way he would cooperate with them. Aang was right after all. "I did find him...his name was Yon Rha, Commander of the Southern Raiders. But I did not kill him."

"Why ever not?"

"Because when I saw him offer his mothers life in exchange for my moms, so that we could be even. And as I watched him beg on his hands and knees I could not bring myself to kill a pathetic, miserable target. I no longer wanted to seek revenge...but that wasn't the only reason I didn't kill him. Before I set off on my mission, Aang," she grinned, "told me to find him and forgive him."

Jet laughed at how pathetic the words of the Avatar really was. "Aang. Always there to ruin the moment."

Katara's eyebrows arched down. "He was absolutely right, Jet. Even though I didn't kill him or forgive him, he was right. Revenge is like a two-headed rat-viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself."

He shook his head and got up. "Your boyfriend was wrong. Revenge is a gift that can be harnessed into a weapon. Forgiveness is for weak chumps."

The Waterbender got to her feet as well, "revenge can also be a burden. Even in death you still wanted it. It took everything in Aang to forgive the Firebenders who killed all of the Monks he loved so dearly, and to this day he doesn't hold a grudge against the woman who killed him. It's not weakness. I may not have forgiven the man who burned my mother, but I know I will someday. Can you say the same for yourself?"

Jet's hands formed a ball as every muscle tightened and even lung expansion seemed harder to do. "You can't save me. No one can," he finally said with the intensity in the air. He looked up at the moon, "time for honesty is up." And just like that, Jet started running fast again. Running away. He was good at that. When he was around Katara his emotions would come alive and his old self was fighting its way to see the outside world again. It was as if being in her presence was somehow tweaking him...and he could not allow that. "_Stay on the path,_" Jet kept telling himself. "_There is nothing left for you here. Only revenge._" Nothing else was keeping him alive. And when enough blood was spilled, and justice found he will gladly take his own life.

OooooOooooOoooo

Finally, they arrived at the location. Nothing but a giant pond with tall grasses growing from it. The water reflected everything in it's path. From the suns highest peek, to the mountain tops, and every mount of dirt as well. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Everything was so steady, but the water was dirtier than the fishing village, Jang Hui. Luckily, it wasn't from littering. Suddenly, Jet started taking off all of his clothes.

"Whoa! What are you doing? Now is not the time to go swimming! You promised-"

"Relax darling," Jet interrupted her. "The answer that you seek is in that water." After taking off his boots he stripped off his pants as well as his underwear. Katara quickly turned around in embarrassment, happy to have looked away just in time.

"Is that really necessary for you to do?" Katara stated in discomfort.

"Come on. It probably isn't the first time you've imagined me taking off all my clothes."

Katara shook her head, "really charming, Jet."

He chuckled at her innocence. "Hey unless you wanna strip for me in this cold, then by all means please do. It'll entertain me more than anything. I bet even Aang hasn't gotten to see that side of you."

She put her hands on her hips, "you don't know anything."

"You're right. I wouldn't know what a virgin sounds like," he teased.

The Waterbender turned around and looked only at his eyebrows, "keep talking and I will freeze those grape nuts of yours. And you know I can make it painful," she threatened.

"HmMmm, alright Katara. Sorry for stealing your virtue," he winked.

The Waterbender sighed heavily, "what are we doing here? How is this going to help Aang?"

'I'm so very glad you asked," he said pointing a finger at her. "Every heard of a king cobra-leech?"

Katara shrugged, "yeah. I've heard stories of them growing to about three meters long, very poisonous. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Jet tipped his feet into the water and felt the warmth, realizing that this was the perfect spot. He bent down and examined the ripples of the water, wondering if they are asleep or on the prowl. "You see, one thing about the female reptiles is that they are very horny. Constantly, getting pregnant. And they mate in the water here for protection. The water is filthy and warm and the perfect camouflage for her babies."

"So-why would this venomous thing help with the situation you put us in?"

He removed the hair out of his eyes, "sometimes the only way to fight poison is to use poison. The thing most people don't know is that after the poison kills that person, they suck their blood dry. However, if we use it to our advantage, every drop of both poisons will be sucked clean. Too long and he dies."

It was a gamble. That's what he was trying to say. Time was running out with the sun getting higher quickly. "What do you need me to do?"

"Heres the plan: I jump into the water. I toss the reptile at you. And you catch it without getting bit. Easy, right?" Jet questioned rhetorically as he backed up, ready to sprint in.

"How am I suppose to catch something poisonous?!"

He ran past her and cannon balled in, but not without saying in a distance, "figure it out sweetie!"

Katara ran to the very edge of the lake and considered why she couldn't just waterbend them out, but that idea disappeared the moment he jumped it. At first there was no movement and all at once Jet was riding on the back of giant motherly cobra-leech like a he was riding a zebra-horse. It reminded her a great deal when Aang rode the Unagi. "Yeehah!" he yelled out before slamming him back into the water. Again it started fighting Jet in midair. Water was splashing everywhere and he was acting like a little kid.

"Any time would be great!" Katara yelled with both of her hands tunneling towards him.

"Im-kinda busy-right-now!" Jet screamed as it whipped him around like a rag doll. This giant reptile dipped him back into the water.

One minute would go by...two...two and half, and Katara began to freak out. The suspense was killing her. The Waterbender got into position and got control of the water, but not before she saw a big circle of tiny pointy jumping out at her. Katara's instincts took over as she began to descend towards the ground, and just inches before the slithering creature went for her neck a bowl of water caught hold of it. Her heart was pounding as the reptile tried to find another way out. This thing was easily the size of her leg. "_This is a baby?_" she thought to herself. Instantly, she began hearing a strange noise in the air. When Katara looked up she saw a dark shadow falling straight down towards her from the sky. The adrenaline kickstarted and she quickly rolled out of the way, still hanging on to the giant baby. Jet slammed into the ground, face first.

"Ohhh!" he moaned painfully, "that kinda hurt...yeah that definitely hurt."

Katara got up with the water floating in her right hand. "Karma sucks doesn't it," she hinted about the whole strip tease in front of her.

Jet smiled through his bloody teeth before getting up and spiting it out. "It was well worth it," he protested and slowly started to stand. Still a bit wobbly. Jet saw that she caught the cobra-leech. "See? I knew you would come up with something." The brunette laughed and went for his clothes.

"Give me one good reason why this is going to work for Aang? How do I know this isn't another sabotage to kill him?" Katara questioned with suspicion.

He sighed and shook his head, "did the whole speech of poison killing poison not help you? I just jumped into a friggin' pool of king cobra-leeches to save him!"

She lifted up her shoulders in response. "You didn't seem too scared of them. How do I know this isn't a fake?"

The traitor smiled mockingly as he placed both hands on his hips. "That's because I knew what I was doing. I've had experience with these things."

"Oh really? Please do tell." It took a hesitating moment before he finally looked her in the eye and began taking off his shirt again. "Please keep clothes on at all times!" Katara instantly spoke out.

"Haha, don't worry baby doll. I'm going to showing you my experience," he said and held out both of his arms in the sun rays. As the young teenager looked more closely at his arms, she saw third degree burn marks. His finger pointed at one and pointed at several of the same marks raging up past his biceps, and flipped his arm over to reveal a couple more. His left arms was much worse. How did she never even notice these? Had she been that cruel to him to not see past his? Never seeing the pain he had to gone through. Even when Jet was chained up like an animal, she never noticed much but the tattoo and the metal on his body.

She was speechless. "Wha-how-I mean..."

"The only way to get them to stop sucking is to burn them off. Poison was just one of the few trips I had to take to die slowly, and fight it off on my own. If I lived I got to eat, if I died then I didn't want to live." Jet put his shirt back on, but not before seeing more burn marks on his abdominals.

"Jet...I-I'm sorry..." Katara began but not before interrupted.

"Katara, just shut up. We got what was needed now lets go save your boyfriend," he suggested and started jogging back into the direction from whence they came. The Waterbender ran after him and keeping up. Unaware that Jet was keeping her from seeing him tear up. Those six months of torture was still fresh in his mind and continually had waking nightmares. Sometimes it really felt like he was living them all over again just by seeing something or smelling the stench of someone else's blood. He would never admit it, but the only family he has left are the ones that hate his guts. His loyalty was to the Death Stalkers, until they gave him what was promised.

Both had been running for hours and making excellent progress. They were halfway there when suddenly Jet stopped dead in his tracks and grabbing Katara's arm to stop her progress. Something was off about these trees they were crossing into so quickly. He bent down and put a hand to the ground. Feeling something vibrate a little. A leaf floated down in front of him. Slowly, like a turtle-snail, he rose up. Hearing both his knees pop in the silence. "Katara..." he said in a mellow and yet alarming tone in high hopes she was listening. "On the count of three, run. Don't ask just do," Jet ordered. "Three!" Together they took off his a dead sprint. Jumping over logs and brushing up against brushed that cut into her face repeatedly and her pulse racing.

"Jet! What are we running from?!" She tried to yell but was ignored. He kept running, until something wrapped around her legs and caused her to fall and hit her head onto something hard.

The ex-Freedom Fighter grabbed onto a thin branch that was strong enough to hold him as he swung around the tree, and still had enough momentum to keep the same pace. And there they were. Five Death Stalkers and one Yuyan Archer in the trees, aiming at Katara. He pulled a dagger from the bottom of his boot and threw it at the archer who leapt out of the way. Katara shook her head from the fog as she slowly got up and saw him fighting black shadows. The Waterbender grasped the water from midair and shot them from her nails. They each dodged them with much ease. Two of them came after her. Jet could take care of himself, but for now she had to focus on these goons. The only part of their skin that she could see were the hollow sky night eyes that stayed hidden under their dark clothes. Even with the sun out they seemed like mirages. But one thing was for certain. They were human. She could literally smell the sweat bouncing off of them. She wondered how long they had been on their trail, or if they were waiting on the two of them to come into this area. These Death Stalkers were patient and skilled beyond any natural person.

For a while Katara was placed in her firm stance. While Jet was off jumping around and kicking and punching, her thighs were burning from just squatting down. Both of these Death Stalkers were the same height as the Waterbender. They could both easily be older than her, but something told her that they were younger. Their eyes were that of a tired old man while their scrawny bodies made them appear to be young teens. There was no way of telling the color of their hair or the size of their hands that were covered in leather and wrap. What scared her the most about them was not knowing if they were benders or dangerous people like Jet. Together they waited for someone to make the first move. Unaware of the hand reaching behind one of their backs and reaching for his throwing stars, but Jet tackled him before penetrating Katara's heart. It surprised all three of them and that was when she attacked in her octopus form.

She grabbed for his feet to only see a wall of earth break her grasp. The dark Earthbender sent the wall straight towards her, but Katara was able to shoot water through it and create a hole big enough for her to dive through. She froze his right leg in attempt to stop his motion and watch him fall to his one free knee. The dark skinned girl send a whirlpool straight towards him. However, someone else shot fire and blocked it all; turning the entire forest into an entire cloud. She was blind and oblivious to the archer that had moved to a different position. Water was shot at every direction. Guessing where they were at and only hearing the sound tree's breaking and leafs falling gracefully. The only sound the long haired teen could hear was her panicking breathing. Suddenly, Toph's training voice popped into her head;

"_Shut up and stand firm you, Airhead!_" Toph would so kindly say to Aang. "_Be blind and listen with your feet. You seem to aspire to them Twinkle Toes._"

Then an idea popped into her head. Even though she couldn't see the way Toph or Aang did with the earth she could still monitor with her ears. And where there is dirt there is also water. Katara got back into her ninety degree squat, breathed, and lifted all of the water from the dark ground in a fifty yard radius around her. She stood straight and tried to relax everything in her body and tuned into the water sounds. Behind her was a lot of splashing and grunting which meant Jet was still dealing with his devil. None of them could make even the slightest movement without water trickling behind them. She drowned out Jet and his feeble comrades as she found her first victim at her three o'clock. Katara blasted him straight through a many trees with the occasional "agh!" across the distant skies. Something in front of her lifted off of the ground with water dripping from it. It was still foggy enough not to see anything five feet in front of her until a heavy bolder was heading straight to her face with another following right behind it. Katara sliced right through the smaller chunk of rock and then did a backwards flip, and got enough just enough height to push off the stone and give herself a better hang time. When she landed, she sent more icicle shots into the direction of the fire. Not sure if she hit anything until a body splashed into her pond. Once again dodging her every shot. The Waterbender sucked the life out of both trees near here and sent yet another whirl pool at the shadow before freezing him the wave up to his chin, just like her training in the Northern Tribe. Then running feet was coming from the left side of her. She was prepared for whatever came next until she heard a tunnel like voice hurling at her.

"Katara!" Jet jumped right on top of her. "Agh!" he bellowed in complete agony.

The surprised teenager quickly pushed him off of her, and saw the arrow sticking through his rib cage. "Jet!" Her fear escaped accidentally. When she looked up to see the enemy waiting for her all was quiet again. The fog disappeared and there were no dark shadows lurking around in the trees. The only remaining evidence were the sliced trees and dents in the ground from the Earthbender. She stood up and saw that the man she had froze was gone, and even the three guys Jet had beaten to a pulp had vanished. This frightened her even more. But after a few minutes of looking around time after time, Katara at long last looked back down at Jet who was moaning in pain, and bent down to examine his open wound.

"Jet! You stupid selfish idiot! Why the hell did you jump in front of me? I would've been fine." Katara said as she ripped part of his shirt to get a better look.

He tried to keep from laughing. "That is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me. And you're welcome by the way."

She rolled her eyes at Jet, "just shut your mouth and let me see what I can do." The arrow had both ends coming out of him. What she found interesting was that tip of the weapon was that there was some type of inscription on it, but that would have to come much later. The stick itself was was two feet long with what looked like a special oak tree as the stem. The tip of the arrow could was so sharp that it could easily slice a piece of her hair off. Blood was everywhere on her hands and the torn shirt.

"Just take out the damn arrow," he suggested through his teeth. "It can't that difficult to do."

Katara curled up her lips, pondered and nodded at his suggestion. "Hmm, you're right." she said and yanked it out of his ribs in one fluid motion. The sound of him groaning made her smile but not in the way of him being in pain. But the fact that he was alive, even though she would never admit it. He had saved her life. Now she owed him. Unfortunately.

"Wow, that was easy," the Waterbender laughed.

He put both his hands over the two holes and feeling the warm ooze seeping through his fingers. "I'm glad you find joy in my pain."

She tucked the arrow behind her and made her hands turn a bright neon blue before pressing both of this sides and scabbing it up. "I had to make sure it didn't pierced an organ or went through a bone before pulling it out. You're welcome by the way." Katara stood up and held her hand out to him. Jet smiled and grabbed a hold of it as she pulled him up and pain hit him hard.

"I thought you could heal people! This is total ostrich crap!"

"Did I also mention you're going to be a little sore? I mean after all you did have an arrow go right through you." Katara smiled at him with more sarcasm and not out of despite.

"Haha very funny. That happen to be my lucky shirt," he mentioned.

Katara sighed as she went looking through the bushes for something. "Yeah you may wanna reconsider the meaning of 'lucky'. 'Cause so far it's not working in your favor." The Waterbender kept looking through the brush and moving tiny branches around. "Please stop checking me out, Jet."

Jet smiled at her, "I can't help it when there is nothing else to look at. Besides, what are you looking for anyways?" Just when he asked, Katara picked up the bowl of water with the baby king cobra-leech still swimming around. Happy that it hand't escaped. "Wow," Jet sounded impressed. "Nice work. I didn't know you were multi-tasker. Can you also do this with guys?"

And just like that he was his old self. "No. And speaking of guys, Aang is waiting for us." Katara mentioned to him, knowing that he hadn't forgotten at all.

Jet agreed with her. "Tsk. Then we better get going if you want to still save your precious Avatar."

Katara looked down at his wound, "do you think you can keep up?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She nodded at him, looked down at his bloody shirt and got ready to run but quickly faced him again. "Thanks...for saving me, I mean." Katara quickly turned her back and ran before he could say anything else to ruin this strange moment between them. She didn't have to look behind to know the sound of feet kicking behind hers.

OoooooOoooooOooooo

Suki put a hand on Aang's sweaty brow and then on his cheek. She let out a big breath. "He is still burning up," the short auburn hair girl spoke as she dipped a cloth into some cooler water and tried to dab it away. "Hows his heartbeat, Toph?"

"Everything is slowing down. I don't know how much longer her can hold out," Toph said and then put her lips next to Aangs ear. "HEY TWINKLE TOES! DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT YOU STUPID AIRHEAD! Come back to the sound of my voice!"

"Yeah," Sokka said. "'Cause,the delicate sound of your voice will make him run even faster towards the light," he joked. But Toph bump his butt into the ceiling and possibly making a crack on the roof. "Oww!" Sokka said rubbing the top of his head.

"Oh sorry," Toph apologized. "I could've sworn the light was calling you too, so I thought I might help get you there faster."

Zuko stood up and punched fire int he middle of them before a war started. "Enough you two! We have been up for almost a full day with no sleep. Katara is somewhere out there with Jet! Spirits only knows that kind of trouble they are in! We can't look to Aang for help, and you guys are starting to pester me more than Azula ever did!"

"Hey!" Sokka and Toph both said at the same time in total offense to the comparison of his evil psycho sister.

Mai put a hand over her mouth so as not to show the smile that unexpectedly creeped out. However, Teo couldn't help snorting all of them. And before long everyone else started to laugh quietly. This was the first time any of them tried to make a joke, and it was nice to hear it all echo in the cave Toph made. But just like that everything was serious once again. The Earthbender and Warrior made up with an apologetic nod at one another and that was that. Toph sat back next to her secret boyfriend and leaned very close against him. He place a gentle hand on her tight shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Hey," the mechanic said lifting her chin up with his other hand. Making her look into his eyes even though he knew she couldn't see, Teo wanted her to know how serious her was. "Aang is going to be fine, Toph. I promise," he said and stole a kiss on her forehead before anyone else could see him do it. For some people, keeping a secret relationship is stupid or some may believe she was ashamed of him, but he knew the fact about Toph. The truth was she was different than most regular teenage girls and he was falling hard for her. Faster than his wheels could keep up. And even though they weren't public about it, he was willing to be patient with her. It took him a while to convince her to go out with him, even though she seemed to blush every time he rolled up next to the raven haired girl. Twenty-two times. That's how long it took for him to finally break through her stone armor and convince Toph to go on a date. It took a lot of help from the girls to get her ready and pushing the earthbender out the door was the hardest part. When Teo first tried to taker her hand she pulled away. The date seemed to have gone horrible in his opinion. He chose a horrible restaurant, lots of crying babies were there that day for some reason, the walk home was silent and kinds of awkward, and when they said their goodnight only rejection seemed to sting more. And then he heard it. The soft gentle voice of a nervous girl that said "thank you," before sliding the door closed. Since then, the teenage mechanice kept asking her out on little dates; both day and night.

Toph smiled up at him, "thanks. I hope he will be okay...because when he wakes I will personally beat the crap outta him."

The Inventor laughed, "that's my Earthbender. But I'm sure Katara has first dibs over him."

Suki lifted Aang up a little to see his that the leafs were still attached to his back with no signs dirt was getting into his slashes. Sokka rubbed his fiance's back and felt the intensity on each muscle. "Hey babe," he whispered. "Why don't you take a break and get some sleep?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine where I'm at."

Sokka kissed his compassionate soon-to-be wife on the head and took a spot next to her. Seeing that she was trying to be strong for the others. The same determination and courage his mom and Katara had. Aang was obviously getting worse. There hadn't been a single second of him coughing and wheezing. Even his lips were starting to go pale. Suki had hoped that the fire might break his fever, but it didn't seem to work. She couldn't get him to eat anything without it all coming back up. Water was difficult too. And he kept mumbling that he was _sorry_, and to _keep running_. Who was he saying sorry too and who was he making them run from?

"Suki?" Sokka said and she looked up from her eyebrows and saw his gentle face. "You're doing a good job."

She gave him a half smile, "I would hope Katara would do that same thing for you if you were ever poisoned."

"Of course she would! She's my little sister and I'm her older brother," he proclaimed. "Katara's supposed to take care of me!"

The Kyoshi Warrior shook her head. "You do see the problem with that, right?"

"Haha." Sokka mocked, "I'm sure she would make me suffer for all of the older brother stuff I pulled on her...okay maybe I would suffer a lot, but she would always have my back. Just like I know you will always be by my side when we get married." The mention of their marriage seemed to bring a bright glimmer to her sleepy face.

"Still wanting to marry me?" Suki joked.

"Sure you can handle being married to a stud like me?" the ponytail man said lifting up his sleeve and flexing his biceps at her.

It brought yet another grin on her face, "oh yeah. Trust me when I say that no other stud could outwit you."

"Wait, there were others studs beside me?!"

"Yeah, but I liked you more. Obviously," she winked. Two fingers were then put under Aang's neck to check his pulse. Alarm swept through her. Suki picked up his wrist and checked it again in case. "Toph?! Is his heart beating?"

Toph was startled from her ten second nap "Wha?"

"Please tell me my fingers have gone numb and you can feel his pulse!?" She shouted in a much higher tone than necessary.

The Earthbender suddenly understood why she had fallen asleep. His heartbeat had softened enough to absolute stillness. Everyone was on their feet now. Sokka grabbed his sword and placed it under the monks nose, and so no fog form. "Toph, we may need you to start yelling at him again," he finally said.

"I can do you one even better." She said and got on her knees and smacked the back of her hand against the Avatars face and again with her palm. Nothing. "Well I'm out of ideas. Anyone else?"

Suki lifted Aang's neck a little bit more and blew air into his lungs once, placed her ear over his lips, and breathed in them again. She started pounding the left center of his chest over and over. Doing the same repeated things in that order for a few minutes and yet he would lay very still. Mai pushed past all of them and got down on her knees, "you guys may wanna cover your ears."

"Why would we want to do that?" Zuko asked more confused than others.

"Just do it." The sighing girl spoke as they each hesitated to cover their ears. She cleared her throat a few times and did the one thing no one ever expect to happen. Mai screamed. She screamed like an actual girl in terror. It was the most surprising, frightful scream any of them had ever heard. The high pitched squealing Zuko had ever heard. It was loud enough with their ears covered, and anything within a mile would still go deaf. Aang's eyes popped open in complete shock as he breathed air into his lungs. Mai smiled, cleared her throat, dusted the dirt off her clothes and went back to sit in the same spot as if nothing ever happened.

"Holy crap," Teo said.

"What. Just. Happened?" Toph asked with her mouth still open.

Zuko blinked a few times, "beats the hell outta me."

"Well you know what they say about the quite ones," Sokka trailed off. "Is she like that in bed too?" Zuko gave him a look, but luckily Suki smacked his stomach. "Okay, yeah I deserved that one."

"Aang?" Suki said, "Aang can you hear me? He didn't answer, but he was at least breathing. This made them all calm down a bit more.

"What happened? Who is hurt?!"

Everyone turned around to see their long lost arch nemesis and sister, standing there in the entrance of the cave. With only part of the moon shining behind them, they looked like peasants with all of the mood all over their clothes and hair. In her right hand was circle of water with something swirling around in it. What really drew everyones attention were spots of blood splattered on her clothes. And the person next to her was in far worse conditions. Jet fell to his knees and finally passing out onto the rocks. Not caring how uncomfortable he was. It wasn't any worse than the pain of that arrow that Katara still had.

"What happened to you?" Her brother sighed with relief as she too wrapped her free arm around him. Never being so happy to see his face again.

Katara let go of him and put Sokka at arms length. "I'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now I think we found a way to help Aang," she said lifting up the bubble of water.

"What is that you have in your hand there?"

"It's a king cobra-leech, apparently." Sokka looked at it and began backing away from it until he was behind Suki.

"Suki," Toph spoke. "We won't blame you for breaking up with your stud of a fiance'."

He was about to protest, but Katara moved past all of them and fell to her knees to find Aang. His condition had deepened immensely. His veins were so dark that it made him appear inhuman. It was like looking at the masterpiece of a spiderweb and then getting it tattooed on him in what now appeared to be a dark purple. Was she too late? They were an hour behind schedule thanks to those Death Stalkers and stopping every once in a while to catch a breather. Running on no energy can really take a toll when adrenaline doesn't want to help. The Monk was covered in sweat. It literally looked like someone dragged him through a lake. Her eyes traveled back to the slithering creature and was about to let it bite Aang's arm, until Zuko grabbed her other wrist. Fully aware of what that thing could do to a person.

"What the hell are you doing?! Do you know what that thing can do to a person?!"

The aggravated and weary Waterbender swiped away his grip. "If I don't do this Aang will die!"

"According to who?" Sokka didn't have to ask. "Jet?! He can't be trusted! You know this better than anyone else here!"

"I have no choice!" she argued back. "We are beyond the reaches of help and this is the only thing that can possibly work! I-" Katara had to say it. "I have to believe Jet." she whispered. "I have come too far to watch Aang die again. Either you let me do this or you can start digging his grave. Because right now that's exactly what you are doing."

They all looked down at the Monk who was starting to breathe sluggishly again. He was in a lot of pain and obviously trying to hold it in for all of them. Aang knew they were afraid for him even when unconscious. He knew they were watching him and he was doing everything to keep them calm just by fidgeting with his fingers and squeezing his hands into the dirt. And seeing the soil that had been stuffed into his nails. If this didn't work, the Avatar, their friend and brother would be lost forever. Could they really risk trusting Jet? The man who purposely did this to their friend was now complying to save him. Something wasn't right. Everything inside them screamed _no_. But one thing was certain; they were about a day and a half's worth of travel to any town in every direction. They could not have picked a more secluded place. It just wasn't the right secluded cave. If they didn't trust Katara with this slimy thing, Aang would die anyways. No matter what they did, each of them would have to anxiously wait and hope and pray. They all remained silent in which case meant there were all in an accord. Katara knew they were only looking out for Aang's wellbeing, but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith in hopes that everything is going to be okay. Even with the enemy. Unfortunately, her faith was in the tortures of the Death Stalkers.

**Whoooooo! So, right after I picked up on this story again, some months later, I realized that this was pretty serious and had to change things up. Had to add some comedy to balance things out, LOTS of sarcasm in this one (which I just couldn't help), and many unpleasant scenes. For example, Jet taking off all his clothes in front of Katara. We also learn that Jet went through a lot as well. But that's just the tip of the iceberg with him. Again, not a whole lot of KatAang. As big of a fan as I am about those two I had to take my focus off of them for this one chapter. As hard as it was. But I hope you all liked the other little romances here and there with the others. **

**Lotta stuff going on in this chapter. Lots of emotions, anger, pain, frustration, and are you all still hating Jet? Some of you might even loathe him, and were happy to see an arrow go through him, but at least we all know that there are other reasons for his doing. Or is that the only reason? Is it a good enough excuse? Probably not. Katara is beginning to see past all of his stuff though and perhaps getting through to him. She even caught him a few times in admitting things that were never intended. Some of you guys might even be mad at her for admitting to being a in relationship with him if things turned out different. Is he trustworthy? Will he tell the Death Stalkers about Katara bringing Aang back to life? Do you guys think he can be saved after all? Is he even worth saving?**

**You all know what to do! Please comment on this chapter. Good or critical, I don't care. Your opinions matter to me. I still have all of my comments from the last two chapters in my email lol. Sometimes I have to read over them and be reminded of my loyal fans out there. You guys are amazing to me and YOU ARE the reason I still write. I wish I could give you peek into the next chapter but my brain is so fried I can't think right now lol. You guys take care of yourselves! and if I don't put up the next chapter, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**Peace and Love,**

**Sportie07**


	30. Avatards!

Dearest Avatards,

So for some reason I have been receiving quite a bit of fan mail as of late in the last few months. Now, usually this tends to happen because of the summer and I'll admit I have not been writing too much or talking to any of my loyal fans.

Again, I have been trying to focus on a new project that is not of fanfiction. But because I have been getting so many emails about my story, I will do my best to finish it. I know I have been saying that for years and I do apologize for that Avatards. It wasn't my intention to leave you hanging, but I will also admit that for a time I was going through a bit of depression. I am not saying that for sympathy, because it was my own shit that I was dealing with, but I am doing SO much better and am happy with the things in my life.

I know what it is like to get into a series, whether it's a book, movie, or even a tv series, the worst thing someone can do is not finish what they started. And with all of your help, I hope I can accomplish this…I know an apology isn't enough, but it all I have for you guys…I still need to finish this for all of you and myself as well.

Here is a sneak peak-

"_How are you handling things?"_

_She put on a brave face. "I'm fine."_

_Zuko shook his head. "There is nothing wrong with worrying about someone you love. I know you wanna hide your emotions, but honestly there's no point. We know you are suffering."_

_A tear escaped from Katara's eyes and this time she didn't try to conceal it. She looked at him with caring and restless fear that crept in every second. "That's not my only reason, Zuko. I know Aang is going to be fine physically, but he won't be the same. He will never be the same." _

_The Firelord knew the subtlety of her words. They all feared what would happen once the young Monk woke from his deep slumber. None of them knew what to do in this type of a situation. Zuko had to try and compensate. He sighed, "Aang has not been the same since he ran from us. He chose another path, Katara. One that was never intended for us, or even you, to be involved in." The scarred man looked to the left and saw more tears streaming down her face. Remembering how he ran off in the middle of the night; afraid to face them all. But more importantly Aang couldn't inflict upon looking at Katara. "It's time you accept the fact that the little boy you once knew no longer exists. He's gone. Forever gone. We cannot keep looking back at who he was. This is Aang now, Katara." Zuko allowed her a second to hear it and perhaps look at him differently. "The sooner you accept this, the sooner you both can move on. Whether it's together or not."_

"_Zuko, he killed two men!" she blurted loud and heard it echo through the caves. The rest of the gang ignored her._

_Her once great enemy grabbed her chin and turned it towards him in a gentle but firm manner. She was losing it. And Aang wasn't even awake yet. Katara wanted to break down, but Zuko couldn't allow it. "Do you love him?" She didn't say anything. He repeated it again, "Katara, do you love Aang?"_

"_Of course I do."_

_Zuko released her. "Then don't question what love can do. It's not over yet."_

_She sniffed and wiped away her uncontrollable tears. "As soon as he wakes, Aang won't be the Monk he was raised to be by Gyatso. He fought so hard to never have blood on his hands. He even spared your father in hopes to save not only himself, but the man who now possess his soul. Sometimes—sometimes I think it would have been better to have just killed that evil man."_

_The Fire Lord was silent for a moment. He hesitated. "Then we would've lost him a lot sooner," Zuko concluded._

_Katara knew he was right. If Aang had taken Ozai's life, they would be in this position still. Aang would've still sought out the Guru for guidance and left them. Probably wouldn't have returned either. "It seems the Spirits curse us."_

_Zuko knew that feeling. Whenever he sought for his Fathers approval, nothing was ever received. No matter how many times the Avatar slipped through his fingers, the Spirits kept on taunting him. It wasn't until Zuko swore his fealty to Aang, trained him in the arts of Firebending to defeat the Phoenix King that, things were finally falling into place. Mai still loved him and was willing to die for him at the Boiling Rock against his monstrous sister, Katara and he finally patched things together, he was accepted into the gang, and then defeated Azula at her own game without pride flowing through him. It was amazing how a single decision can alter a life. Even when he did betray Aang and Katara at Ba Sing Se, the Spirits allowed him to see the life he would have as his father's right hand. If it had not have been for all those trials, the banishment, living the life as a peasant, learning about the way others survived, Zuko would not be the Fire Lord fit to reign over his people. He had become compassionate towards others and conscious of a soldiers life and family. Zuko understood how curses slowly alter to blessings. Katara needed a different perspective._

"_I wonder if Aang believes he is a walking curse as well…" he said and let it hang in the air for a bit._

"_Why would you say that?"_

_Zuko shrugged, "I'm just saying, I wonder if he thinks the same things as you do. When he ran away from the Airbenders, Aang hit a storm and was frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years. First thing he learns is they all died and that they kept the secret of him running away. Then came the war, in which case he still wasn't ready to be the Avatar. Your mother died, because he couldn't help either and forced your father to enter a war instead of being with his family." Zuko's eyes followed down to Katara's nails that were digging into the cave, hoping to somehow numb the pain._

"_Tread carefully Zuko 'cause you're about to receive another scar," she threatened. _

_The Fire Lord believed her vicious words. It even gave him a cold shiver, but he had to make Katara see it. "How cursed did Aang feel when he found out my father's spirit resided in him? Or when he knocked you against the wall and hurt you? You think he didn't have blood on his hands then? Aang ran away not because of my father, but because he hurt you. He was trained to protect us, but particularly for the woman he needs."_

"_And how do you know this?" she questioned. Her eyes back on the corpse that remained still. _

"_Call it a hunch. He's been through a lot and only one person had helped him every time. Aang came back to the only constant in his life. You, Katara. You are the only person that has kept him sane. Every wonderful moment has been with you. Every source of danger and evil he went through, you were by his side. You forced Aang see his path clearly. He even told me of the night he kissed you during the Ember Island Play, and that you denied him, because you knew how important his mission was. You put your own feelings aside for his safety."_

_Katara was surprised to learn that Aang had even mentioned this to Zuko. Her smile was weak as she shook her head. Allowing the small breeze to cool her back side and welcomed it. "That's not why I did it Zuko."_

"_But Aang said—"_

"—_I had to let him believe it. I couldn't tell him the real reason." _

"_And what was the reason?"_

"…_that I was falling hard for him. And if Aang had pressed his feelings for me again in that moment I would've told him not to fight. I would've told Aang to let someone else fight this war, because I was selfish. I didn't want to him die again. Not before he even had a chance to live. And I believe he would've listened to me."_

It's not much, but it's a small portion…hoping this will help a little. By the time I am finally done, things will have changed so it may not be the same.

Peace and Love


	31. Bro's, Parties, Sex Talks, & Memories

**Whelp I finally did it. After non stop emails from my wonderful Avatards, you were able to help me write this new chapter. I know it has ben a long time since I have done this. It's not that I don't write anymore about this, but my life has gotten a little bit busier. It's a lame excuse, but I am trying to get a promotion in my job which requires constant studying and training. I will continue to do my best to finish what I have started some years ago. I only hope you be patient with me. And even if I can't write long chapters, such as this one, I will at least give you a close enough detailed analysis of how it all ends. Yes, that is probably not what you guys wanted to hear, but at least you will have closure and so will I.**

**Thank you to all of the fans out there! Old or New to my series, you guys are awesome in every way. I have a lot of emails to get through today for those that have been talking to me. I have received all of them, and I haven't been ignoring Th. m. Someone asked me, who shall remain nameless, if my story is original or have I been stealing ideas? The only thing I have used is everything related in ATLA. I DO NOT read other ****people's work, because I don't want to steal their ideas and use them as my own. ALL of this is original material. I don't cheat my fans like that. And even when I do steal something, maybe from a movie or book, I claim that I did.**

**Sorry for the grammar or spelling errors. I tried to hustle on this chapter, so it may not be as great as the others.**

**Thank for the support guys! **

**(Recap) Jet and Katara raise across time and dessert to find the poison to fight off Aang's poison. They were successful, but were they too late? And if they weren't, how will Aang have changed? ENJOY**

It had been two days since Katara took the risk of entrusting Jet with Aangs life. There had hardly been any changes. The Avatar wasn't mumbling as much and his body temperature seemed to finally settle, but he still remained very warm. Suki and Katara continued to apply the ointment onto his back in wishful whispers that no scares would remain. The Waterbender did her best, but these wounds were deep and fearsome to even touch. Suki had taken excellent care of him while she and Jet went on the hunt, and was eternally grateful to have the Kyoshi Warrior in her life as well as Mai.

Katara told the gang about their little adventure and leaving out a few minor details that would cause Jet to die in his sleep. The image of him in the nude was still disturbing and haunting. And as much as she too wanted to kill him, she had taken pity on him. Jet looked even less than human being underneath and it scared her to grasp the horror he must have endured. She still hated him, but not as much as before. The gang seemed to ease up a bit after telling them about Jet saving her life as well. They were far more curious about the Death Stalkers they had encountered, although her brother didn't seem to ease. Honestly, there wasn't anything else to talk about; clothing darker than night and a shadow of killer like eyes; eyes that craved for blood and war.

Katara reached into a bowl for a cloth and opened Aang's mouth to drip water into his mouth, before placing it on Aangs forehead. She was beyond stressed and exhausted to the point that if her eyes met the dancing flames she would fall asleep and never want to wake. Katara removed her stare from the warm fire and trailed back to Aang's resting face. Even though he was sick and possibly in pain, this was the first time Katara had seen all those wrinkles disappear; all of the worlds problems and the spirit of Ozai had vanished. For the first time in what seemed like years, she saw the twelve year old boy that she missed so much. His innocence and childhood had returned. Even the small scar on his cheek seemed to have disintegrated into the warm orange glow. She reached out and touched that precious face with the back of her fingers and wished for him to wake up. A smile always found its way upon his face when Katara touched him, but instead Aang twisted away from her. Pain enveloped the Waterbender. Her chest felt like it was caving in and suddenly couldn't breathe. She was so wrapped in her own pain for Aang that she didn't even notice that Zuko had been resting beside her.

"How are you handling things?"

She put on a brave face. Still feeling like something was crushing her ribs. "I'm fine."

Zuko shook his head. "Don't you ever get tired of lying to yourself?"

A tear escaped from her eyes. And she didn't try to conceal it. She looked at him with caring and restless blue eyes. "That's not my only reason, Zuko. I know Aang is going to be fine physically, but he won't be the same. He will never be the same."

The Firelord knew the subtlety of her words. They all feared what would happen once the young Monk woke from his deep slumber. None of them knew what to do in this type of a situation. Zuko had to try and compensate. He sighed, "Aang has not been the same since he ran from us. He chose another path, Katara. One that was never intended for us, or even you, to be involved with." The scarred man looked to the left and saw more tears streaming down her face. Remembering how he ran off in the middle of the night; afraid to face them all. But more importantly Aang couldn't inflict upon looking at Katara. He couldn't imagine striking Mai and still being married to her, because everyday he would have to be reminded of what he caused. A man can only handle so much before madness drove him. Aang was strong and resistant, even though there was always a slight hesitation in his actions towards Katara. He tried to keep an eye on him as did Sokka, who wasn't as quiet about it.

"It's time you accept the fact that the little boy you once knew no longer exists. He's gone. We can't keep looking back at who he was. _This_ is Aang now, Katara." Zuko allowed her a second to hear it and perhaps look at him differently. "The sooner you accept this, the sooner you both can perhaps move on together."

"Zuko, he killed two men!" she blurted loud and heard it echo through the caves. The rest of the gang ignored her anger.

Her once great enemy grabbed her chin and turned it towards him in a gentle but firm manner. She was losing it. And Aang wasn't even awake yet. Katara wanted to break down, but Zuko wouldn't allow it. "Do you love him?" She didn't say anything. He repeated it again, "Katara, do you love, Aang?"

"…of course I do."

Zuko released her. "Then don't question what love can do. It's not over yet."

She sniffed and wiped away her uncontrollable tears. "As soon as he wakes, Aang won't be the Monk he was raised to be by Gyatso. He fought so hard to never have blood on his hands. He even spared your father in hopes to save not only himself, but the man who now possess his soul. Sometimes—sometimes I think it would have been better to have just killed that evil man."

The Fire Lord was silent for a second. "Then we would've lost him a lot sooner." Zuko concluded.

Katara knew he was right. If Aang had taken Ozai's life they would still be in this position. Aang would've still sought out the Guru for guidance and left them. To never return. "It seems the Spirits curse us."

Zuko knew that feeling. Whenever he sought for his Fathers approval, nothing was ever received. No matter how many times the Avatar slipped through his fingers, the Spirits had taunted him. It wasn't until Zuko swore his fealty to Aang, trained him in the arts of Firebending, to defeat the Phoenix King that, things were finally falling into place. Mai still loved him, even after leaving her behind and was willing to die for him at the Boiling Rock against his monstrous sister. Katara and he finally patched things together, he was accepted into the gang, and then defeated Azula at her own game without pride flowing through him. It was amazing how a single decision can alter a life. Even when he did betray Aang and Katara at Ba Sing Se, the Spirits allowed him to see the life he would have had as his father's right hand. If it had not have been for all those trials, the banishment, living the life as a peasant, his Uncle's constant riddles, constantly learning how others survive on hope alone, then Zuko would not be the Fire Lord fit to reign. He had become compassionate towards others and conscious of a soldiers life and family. Zuko understood how curses slowly alter to blessings. Katara needed a different perspective.

"I wonder if Aang believes he is a walking curse as well…" he said and let it hang in the air for a bit.

"Why would you say that?"

Zuko shrugged, "I'm just saying, I wonder if he thinks the same things as you do. When he ran away from the Airbenders, Aang hit a storm and was frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years. When he awakened, Aang finds out that they all died and he remained a secret in hope to save the world. Then came the war, in which case he still wasn't ready to be the Avatar. Your mother died, because he couldn't help either and forced your father to enter a consistent hostile environment instead of providing for his family." Zuko's eyes followed down to Katara's nails that were digging into the cave, hoping to somehow numb the pain.

"Tread carefully Zuko 'cause you're about to receive another scar," she threatened.

The Fire Lord took her words. It even gave him a cold shiver, but he wanted her to hear it. "How cursed did Aang feel when he found out my father's spirit resided in him? Or when he knocked you against the wall and left you unconscious? You believe he didn't have blood on his hands, but Aang ran away not because of my father, but because he hurt you. He trained to protect us, but particularly for the woman he loves."

"And how do you know this?" she questioned. Her eyes back on the corpse that remained still.

"Call it a hunch. He's been through a lot and only one person has helped him every time. Aang came back to the only constant in his life. You, Katara. You are the only person that has kept him sane. Every wonderful moment has been with you. Every source of danger and evil he went through, you were right by his side. You forced Aang see his path clearly. He even told me of the night he kissed you during the Ember Island Play, and that you denied him, because you knew how important his mission was. You put your own feelings aside for his safety."

Katara was surprised to hear that Aang had even mentioned it to Zuko. She wasn't aware of how close they really were back then. Her smile was weak as she shook her head. Allowing the small breeze to cool her back side and welcomed it. "That's not why I did it Zuko."

His eyebrows were brought together. "But Aang said—"

"—I had to let him believe it. I couldn't tell him the _real_ reason."

"And what reason was that?"

"…that I was falling hard for him. And if Aang had pressed his feelings for me again in that moment—I would've told him not to fight. I would've begged Aang to let someone else fight this war, because I was selfish. I didn't want to him die again. Not before he even had a chance to live. And I know I could've convinced him. Katara still felt shameful for having those thoughts. Aang was the Avatar and it was his duty to put the People first over love. The Fire Lord nodded at her confession. He couldn't imagine the strength and sacrifice it took to say that to the Avatar. Knowing that there was a possibility of him not returning. Letting go of Mai was the most difficult decision he had ever went through.

"What was it like with your first kill?" Katara finally asked. Seeking wisdom on what to do with Aang when he woke.

Zuko sighed heavily, "I can't remember."

This surprised Katara. "How is that possible? I've always heard your first kill stays with you forever."

The Fire Lord ran a hand through his dark brown shaggy hair, "unfortunately, I wasn't raised like everyone else. Apparently, when my mother was away when I was but a baby, my Father had carried me into the throne room with him. There was a debate about two men. Instead of hearing their pleas, he allowed me make the decision for him. I raised my right hand and I killed an entire family. My father thought it was just and would make me strong. Always telling me that I was born a killer. To this day I have no recollection of who I killed or what their crimes were."

The Waterbender never knew of this. She couldn't imagine a baby make a life and death situation, before he could even walk. "What did you do when you found this out?" She looked at him. Taking pride in the man Zuko had become. Better than that of his father by a long shot. He married his childhood sweetheart and became the greatest leader in Fire Nation hisory. A man Katara was proud of to call friend and a wonderful husband.

He looked back at the dark skinned teenager. "I went to my Uncle. My mother was not around and he was the only person I could depend on. My sister made fun of me for being a pansy and my father would have nothing to do with me. Uncle Iroh knew of what I did, but did not bring it up until I was ready to talk."

"And when you were ready?"

"My Uncle held me in his arms and allowed me to cry. My own father would never have allowed me to show that kind of weakness, but Uncle Iroh didn't say anything. I don't think there is any way to tell a person how to handle the death of a stranger. He was just—there for me. No words were exchanged. He took me to a special place, away from Fire Nation flags, and slept to the sound of the ocean hitting rocks and the smell of his favorite Jasmine tea." Zuko smiled. Unaware that it caused Katara's lip to curl a little bit. Knowing how much Iroh enjoyed a cup of warm, calming Jasmine tea. "You know what, maybe that is exactly what we need."

She raised an eyebrow. "Your Uncle's tea?"

"No," he laughed. "We need to escape. A resort. A vacation."

"A vacation?" Katara exclaimed.

Sokka jumped from behind them and wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. "Did I hear someone say _VACATION_?!"

Katara rubbed off his hands and stood up. "We can't take a vacation guys! We have too much work to do."

"I think Zuko is right," Toph spoke out. Apparently, she had been listening in on their conversation the whole time. Go figure. "We need a _real_ vacation. Away from everything that's been driving us insane. And it will be good for Aang too. May even help with our little problem."

"Guys we can't!" Katara yelled to make them all come back to reality. "We have evil Death Stalkers tracking us, Aang is still unconscious, and we can't waste anymore time taking on these little vacations!"

Zuko stood up. Terrorizing his shadow over her. "Get everything ready guys. We are heading to Kyoshi Island as soon as possible."

To Katara's surprise everyone cheered. She even caught a tiny grin on Mai's face, whom at one time hated the Kyoshi Warrior's makeup and taste for colors in clothing. Apparently, everyone was tired and stressed beyond their breaking point. The Waterbender got right up in his face, "who the hell put you in charge of this group?"

The Fire Lord could see that she was angry and it was clouding her judgment. A vacation sounded redundant right now, but it was exactly what was needed. Everyone was worrying about the simplest of things, jumping at the sound of a cave hoppers, Sokka couldn't stop dreaming about food eating all of them, and Toph was becoming more unpleasant than usual, Mai seemed to be coming down with a sickness, and Katara wouldn't go to sleep without the thought seeing Aang for the last time. The vacation was for all of them. And Zuko knew Aang would need a calm place to think. What better location than a lonely island with an oceans view.

"Katara," he said pulling her into a hug and whispered, "Aang will need this. We are all going to need it. The problems and ides of war will still be waiting for us. That I can promise."

OooooOooooOooooO

Aang opened his gray eyes and blinked away the fog that had been brewing in his sight. For the first time he could finally see beyond the darkness. His entire body was beyond sore to the bone. Whether it was breathing or just moving his fingers, everything hurt. Aang's face felt like it had been smashed against rocks and his body thrown down a mountainside, and hung on a tree limb to dry. The Airbender could still smell the potent liquid seeping out of his pores from that night and it made him nauseated. His mouth tasted of strange dry leaves that were forced down his throat. The muscles in Aang's right forearm hurt the most. It seemed like someone had placed a lit candle under his arm and let it sit there for an hour. He was barely able to lift up his head that weighed fifty pounds, and saw four deep holes that penetrated his skin. It was swollen and bruised all over. The Monk tried hard to squeeze his hand into a ball, but could only make his fingers into a hook. His eyes followed down to the floor and realized he wasn't in the desert anymore. He licked his lips and felt the cracks that scratched underneath his tongue. Aang looked to his right and left and saw a clay jug of water and reached for it, despite the pain, and guzzled it all down, feeling the liquid dripped off the side of his cheeks and onto the bed he slept on. Water had never tasted so good.

The Airbender forced himself up with a heavy heart. The night of the fight had been playing over and over again in his minds so much that he could still smell the blood dripping off his hands, the cheering of the crowd hitting his chest, the beating of the music, and then there was Katara…but he stopped himself from seeing her frightened face. Suddenly, his ears caught the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the smell of sea salt in the air. He looked over to the window and saw young girls duck and run away while giggling. Only one place had jittery giggling girls. They had brought him to Kyoshi Island. The sun was nearly setting with the stars peeking into the dimming night. Wind chimes moved freely in the air and seemed to help calm his nerves. He removed the covers to reveal that that was the only thing keeping him from revealing everything to the outside world. The Airbender attempted to stretch his back and felt each bone grinding against one another, and his skin being stretched far beyond it structure before causing a gasp of pain to slip through his teeth. Aang hadn't forgotten how many times he had been whipped, denying the killing of innocents. Unfortunately, it had all been for nothing.

Aang used his airbending to help push his sore figure off the ground and started wobbling once on his feet. The blood rushed to his head and forced the Avatar to fall back on the ground until the darkness faded away. He hadn't felt this weak since Azula struck him down with lighting. Looking back and comparing his torture now was a walk in the clouds. His staff was in the farthest corner and instead used his bending abilities to suck it back into his hands, using it as a crutch and his solitude. He found his pack tucked under the bed as was able to put on his pants, but chose to remain shirtless in hopes to allow his skin to breathe. Then came a sound he hadn't heard in a while. Laughter. He could hear the gang laughing and talking amongst themselves. For a brief moment they seemed to be happy. Even Katara seemed to be enjoying herself and the other many young women giggling.

And as much as Aang wanted to know what happened after passing out, he couldn't bare to look at any of them, let alone interrupt their brief happiness. He needed to sneak out. Behind him was another open window that led to the outskirts of the town. Even with all of the pain he managed to hoist himself out of there without anyone knowing, but unaware that a small lemur was above the roof. Momo jumped onto his shoulders and caused Aang to jump up in fear. Apparently, he was more skittish than he thought.

He smiled at the little white ball of fur and petted his head, feeling the vibration of his purr. "Hey Momo." His voice was but a hoarse whisper. "Feel like going for a walk?" The lemur didn't say anything as he wrapped his thing tail around the Monks neck. Aang had forgotten how soft Momo's fur was and couldn't help but stroke it.

The skies were beautiful during twilight. The colors of orange and purple mixed throughout the sky. It reminded him of the time Zuko and he went to find the Sun warriors and the dragons showed them the true essence of fire. All those colors formed beauty and wonder of dancing flames. It was nice to see white snow on the grounds but at the same time allow green and brown to peek at the sky. Aang continued to pass house after house, leaning on his crutch for great support. His gray binoculars caught the sight of Kyoshi standing tall. They had repainted her features again and he couldn't help but stand in awe. Aang didn't want fame or to be put up in a statue. He didn't deserve to be remembered. Aang may have stopped one war but only to release something even greater. If they ever built a statue of him, they would burn it to the ground for everything he put the world through. He shook those thoughts away and continued to the one place that brought back so many memories. There was nobody on the beach. He loved the way the sand tucked in between his toes. The salt water was cold, but soothing. The Monk slowly bent down and then plopped onto the wet sand and enjoyed the calm waves.

Aang didn't know what they were doing here, but there must be some reason for them bringing him here unconscious. In a strange way, this seemed to be the only place he belonged right now. Everything was peaceful. This was the one island that stood away from all the other four nations. They were separate. Isolated from war. And Pain. And suffering that plagued the nations. Aang's eyes wondered towards the rocks that stood strong against the hammering waves. He couldn't help but compare himself to the boulders. The whole time the Monk felt like he was drowning and the waves crashing into him from all sides, pushing and punching until he couldn't breathe. His hands dug into the sand, feeling the coarse rough and irritating feeling under his nails. He closed his eyes again and Katara's face pierced right through him. Her blue eyes were haunted with terror and horror. His worst nightmare had come true. Now Katara truly saw the monster within. Aang was capable of killing now, and no matter how many times the water came to wash him the blood couldn't be removed. He had been scrubbing his hands so hard in the water that he ripped open his own skin and felt the burning sensation of salt. The pain was numbing enough to try and forget about his other problems.

"Hi Aang!" A high pitch cheerful voice made the Monk jump and sent Momo flying away quickly. Lucky for him. His sight caught a girl with a red and white painted face of a Kyoshi Warrior, brown hair and eyes, and too outgoing and perky to be raised as a Kyoshi Warrior.

As much as the Airbender wanted to be alone, he didn't want to impose being rude. "Hello Ty Lee. How are things as a Kyoshi Warrior?"

Her smile was ginormous. "It's great! I was raised around six sisters, but I prefer these sisters over my siblings. They are just amazing! Suki has really taken me under her wing."

Aang tried to smile but it seemed to be mute. "Congratulations then. It must be a great honor to serve in the arts of Avatar Kyoshi."

"Oh it is! Although I find it a bit difficult to wear the outfits here, especially when my ora is so pink."

The Avatar knew that for a fact. Ty Lee was always a cheerful girl who had no problem defining herself in bright colors, the complete opposite of Mai. He was surprised that Zuko could handle her. But she was still sweet when not using her chi blocking. She may look like a prissy girl, but deception works in Ty Lee's favor. "I'm glad you are doing well here. It's good to be able to start fresh with those you trust."

She nodded. "Thanks cutie," Ty Lee winked. "Just so you know if I would have known how good looking you would've turned out, I may have not been able to keep my hands off of you!"

Aang became nervous, "umm—thank you?"

The circus girl giggled, "don't worry, Avatar Aang." She reassured his blushing face. "I would never go after you! Unless, you are single now?" Ty Lee moved into close until she was an inch from his nose.

The Airbender felt intimidated and stuttered for a second as a drop of sweat drip down his neck. "As, ugh, flattered as I am I'm still with Katara." It was more of a question than a statement, because in fact he did not know where the relationship stood with the Waterbender. After what had happened, how could he even ask of Katara to stay with him. Knowing that he had killed. The nauseating feeling ruptured in his stomach and felt the blood rush out of his face, rendering a paler Monk.

"Then why aren't you with her now?" She questioned, apparently Aang didn't know she was kidding with him. Ty Lee caught a glimpse of his hand and saw blood dripping into the sand. She kept her trap shut still and leaned away from him. She hadn't heard much since Appa brought all of them here four days ago. All Ty Lee knew was that they needed safe haven and were more than welcome to open their arms to Suki and the Avatar. They all looked like they had been through hell. And even brought a prisoner and tied him up with guards consistently surrounding.

The foaming water splashed into Aang's legs and helped his body sink farther into the sand. His hands were on fire and making him sweat more than necessary. The weather was cool and so was the water and yet his body temperature was burning. He looked at her, "things have changed for the worst."

The brunette nodded, "I see…so instead you would rather talk to me?"

"Honestly, I prefer to not see or talk to anyone right now." He bluntly spoke out of turn, fully aware that he had hurt Ty Lee's feelings.

"…oh…well I'm sorry to have disturbed you Avatar Aang." Before she stood up, Aang grabbed her wrist to make sit back down next to him.

"I'm sorry Ty Lee. It was not my intention to hurt you when you have been nothing but kind since you sat with me. I'm just going through some stuff and I don't know how to face any of them."

"Would it be so bad if I asked what it is that is bothering you sugar pie?"

Great. Another nickname to indulge in, but at least it wasn't an insult like Toph's. "I've done something horrible. Something that can never be undone. That's as far as I will go."

Ty Lee nodded. She wanted to pry, but after seeing him being brought in as a broken man, she could not. "Okay? Why can't you talk to your girlfriend about this horrible situation?"

He pondered on her words, trying to not allow anything to slip up unintentionally. "Lets say you had been raised to a standard that you understood and dedicated your whole life to obeying, in which case would define the type of person you would become in the future. And no matter how hard you fought it…it happened anyways. And when you look at yourself, you no longer see who you are anymore. You're stuck in a place where time doesn't exist and neither does anyone else, but your guilt and sins. And you know without a doubt that your friends can't see you the same way. They fear you and the woman you love—I mean the person you love the most," he changed quickly, "will perhaps never love you the same way again. So, tell me Ty Lee, how would you handle something like that?"

There was an awkward silence to the daunting question Aang so desperately wanted. Ty Lee was probably not the person to ask about this sort of thing, but sometimes it is better to talk to a stranger than those who know you best of all. Of course Ty Lee wasn't a stranger in his life. It was a heavy question to put on such a pink ora. She probably didn't even have an answer for him and yet the silence wasn't bad to listen to either. The waves were calming and the smell of salt pushed away the reek of rust. His hands still burned but not as bad. He didn't even want to look down, because the blood would not be his own. Even though they were open wounds, Aang was far beyond physical pain. He was disturbingly angry. He had killed two people. It all happened in a blink of an eye. At one point the Monk was fighting two men and losing, and the next thing he knew he is being summoned for his victory. Everything had changed. His religion that Aang had dedicated his life to was in shatters. Every promise that had been sworn upon had been destroyed. He had dreamt of nothing but their faces. The nightmares were the same but horrible different. There were times Aang was able to stand in the crowd and watch the fight watch himself kill those men in cold blood. Others, Aang knew what was going to happen and told Katara to run and yet she would not move. Her distraught appearance made him weak and vulnerable and every once in a while he would hear Ozai laughing at this entertainment. Telling the Monk to embrace it, because it won't be the last time he would take a life. His end was near. Now it was only a matter of time before his "child" like heart would no longer be his own. He had failed Monk Gyatso and in constant fear of the past Avatars would tell him that this was just a part of life, one in which he would _have_ to take embrace.

Aang wanted to bury his head in the sand and let the water take him afloat into the Netherlands. Life was no longer his own. How could he drag his loved ones down to the pits of hell with him hanging on so tightly. Aang couldn't run away again. There was no one to turn to. He had become his own worst enemy. The Avatar was no better than Jet. But at least Jet didn't regret what he did to others, which made him the perfect assassin and owned up to what he killed. Aang could not imagine himself to be like Jet or Ozai…killing innocent bystanders just for sport or amusement. What honor did he have left now? Proposing to Katara ended that night. That moment he saw a tear splash onto the ground. He would never see Sokka and Suki marry, or see the children Zuko and Mai would bore into this world. The future he thought he could have with Katara, the one woman he dreamt of, now only saw him as a beast. There was nothing to live for. That much he had concluded. There wasn't an ounce of fighting left. He wanted to surrender. End his misery.

"I joined the circus instead of becoming a Princess like my parents wanted," Ty Lee interrupted his deep thoughts and wasn't sure he had in fact heard anything. "Does that count?

Aang had totally forgotten that the she was still sitting next to him. The sun had finally set and yet her complexion was bright and sweet. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, I was born and raised to be a Princess and yet I chose to join the circus instead. To be set apart from my other six sisters and find myself when I was so lost. Does that count?"

The Monk thought about it, "I—suppose it does?" It wasn't much help, but she was willing to talk about something personal to make things a little better.

"And I also betrayed Azula to save Mai's life for rescuing Zuko's. I was raised to always follow my future Fire Lord, and for the longest of time I let her manipulate me, but when push came to shove, I valued friendship over loyalty. Mai and I may have been complete opposites, but I knew what was right. I should have been executed for my crimes instead of being locked up at the Boiling Rock, but I wasn't. Maybe things have to get worse before actually getting better, right?"

That wasn't exactly what Aang was looking for. The only thing worse right now was if Ozai's Spirit did in fact take over and the war would end, and Aang would kill any and all that was once green and good, and save Katara for last. Things didn't need to get worse. He needed something good. "I guess?" Aang said. Not wanting her to try and cheer him up anymore. She was sweet and maybe all he needed was peace as the Monk had intended when he sluggishly walked here. He thought about soaring through the sky with his glider, but chose against it.

Ty Lee saw that her words had no effect on the troublesome Avatar. This really wasn't her strong suit with deep conversations. The last time this happened was at Ember Island with Lo and Lee. She prayed to the spirits that everything would not hit the floor when reaching their age. No pun intended. "Perhaps I am not the person you should be having this conversation with?" Ty Lee suggested. "I know of a girl who would love more than anything to speak to her boyfriend."

He nodded. "I know. I think, maybe, I just need some time to myself."

This time the circus girl agreed with him and took the hint after standing up. He did not reach for her this time. Ty Lee bent back down to look at Aang and balancing her petite figure with her toes that dug into the sand. She waited until he finally looked toward her direction. "Funny thing about time is that we never have enough of it. Life and Death are on their own time. They do not care or feel what you are going through right now. I know you have a great deal on your shoulders, but if you do not seek sanctuary with someone close to you, there won't be any time left. You say that you can't look yourself in the mirror or the faces of loved ones. Perhaps it is time for you to accept every good and bad thing you have done and not allow it to define you. You are the Avatar, Aang. You can't always be perfect." Ty Lee smiled and stole a kiss on his cheek before doing backward flips all the way back to the town.

Aang couldn't stop staring into the great abyss. It had been hours since the last talk with Ty Lee.

His eyes had been fixated on the horizon where the sun would eventually peek and chase away the night sky. The Monk was still tired, but did not want to sleep for fear of dreams. It was like the nightmares with Ozai and the solar eclipse. Dreaming of failure, forgetting about his pants, and even the math test, which was odd to think about. Aang couldn't go without sleep forever. The question was, did he want to sleep alone for the rest of his life. One thing Ty Lee made perfectly clear was the fact that Katara was waiting for him. Anxiously wanting to talk to him, but he still couldn't face her. Aang dragged Katara way too deep into his own mess. There were times the Monk wished he could go back and force himself to never return. Maybe even actually allow Katara to marry someone else…and perhaps live the life of a normal Waterbender with children that held her smile and kind but fearsome eyes.

His heart ached at the thought. He was thinking like a mad. Aang knew that he would never stop Ty Lee also had another point; time was not on his side. There were still so many places he wanted to visit and revisit again, people to help and be the Avatar they deserved. One place in particular stood out though; The Cave of Two Lovers. He remembered their story. How the odds were always against them as their own people drew a hateful sword between them and the war killed Oma. But Shui chose forgiveness and spared everyone. Oma may have passed away, but the cave would always be their pathway to each other. Aang looked up into billions of stars that twinkled at him and wondered if Katara and he would always find a way back to each other. And no matter how far off the ledge he was or distant he had become or even helplessly lost, would she come looking for him? Stand by his side when only pain and turmoil surrounded their relationship? Could she ever forgive him? Could she truly love someone who was doomed…"

OooooOooooOoooo

For another two days, Aang just sat on the beach. He was not disturbed by anyone else. Not even his friends. Ty Lee must've said something. Aang made a mental note to thank her. His conversation with her did not go as planned, or unplanned, but obviously Aang had scared her away. During those two days, he wept to the point of exhaustion, meditated without entering the Spirit World in hopes to sort out the root of all evil. Ozai was hiding from him now. Aang didn't understand what this spirit was waiting for. It could have easily taken over and his body would be a vessel. What was this spirit waiting for? It has had so many opportunities and yet it was waiting.

Monk Gyatso once told him of a certain sea serpent that would lie still at the bottom of the ocean, allowing its prey to take little bites out of him, and yet it would remain very still. Waiting for the right moment to sink its teeth into its dinner. Ozai was waiting for the perfect opportune moment. Aang was at his weakest he thought. The Airbender didn't know how much lower he could get before Ozai would engulf him.

The Monks stomach growled from hunger and dehydration. He needed food desperately and salt water only made him long for pure water. Momo was kind enough to bring him back a peach, but it seemed to only make things worse. Aang wished he could seek out the lion turtle one last time. He had hoped that somehow, amongst all of his confusion, it would call out to him again. Aang had been being patient long enough, and he couldn't wait anymore.. Aang tried to ignore the blood that was still stained on his hands, but it was hard to not see his sins written all over them.

The Avatar finally made his way back to the village and saw the only place with its lights still on. He could smell the roast cooking from the smoke in the air, something Sokka drooled over, there was also some type of pork as well mixed in the aroma of sweets. His mouth watered and his grumble grew even more. Aang slowly walked up the steps, careful not to make that much of a noise, and reached for the door.

"So what are we going to do about Twinkle Toes?"

Aang stopped and leaned his ear against the sliding door.

Sokka took a big old chunk out of the pigs leg, "what do you mean?"

"I mean, he has sitting on that beach for three days. He has been unconscious for a week and has not said a single word except to little Miss Pretty in pink. Come on Katara, we all heard what you said back at the caves." Toph reminded.

The Waterbender took a sip of a very strong drink and placed her cup back on the table. "What I said was out of anger and hurt and fear."

"Katara," Sokka spoke up. "He killed two people. Remember how hard it was to convince Aang to kill the Phoenix King and look how that turned out?! He's got a friggn' Spirit whirling around inside of him, and you know where thats landed us?" Sokka paused for a moment, "we had to put up a "Missing Person's" all over the four nations, because he ran away from his problems. AGAIN! Remember what he did to you the last time he lost his temper for a split second?" he snapped.

Katara closed her eyes. Recollecting it the way it all happened. Aang's gray eyes turned all red before attacking all of them. She was surprised at how sudden the water turned against herself. Even Master Paku didn't have a quick draw like the Avatar. She definitely didn't expect to be sent to wall. Next thing she knew, Katara was knocked hard and woke up to a note that Aang wrote. Her heart sank into her stomach. The nauseating feeling never went away.

"He is in better control. There is no reason to bring that up again," Katara defended him.

"Katara!" Sokka yelled in rebuttle. "HE. KILLED. TWO. PEOPLE. The same loveable Aang that you still call your boyfriend went from hurting those he cared for to beating men to a pulp until dead and bleeding out of their spleen!"

"Sokka," Zuko spoke out. "You have got to understand the situation."

"Oh please, do explain oh gracious one." He said leaning over with both his hands cradling his face with sarcasm and enthusiasm written all over him.

Zuko squinted his eyes at him. "Do you remember when you all went to Avatar Roku's island?" The siblings acknowledged. "Do you also recall when Aang allowed Avatar Roku to use his body as a vessel. And it wasn't Aang that brought down the building, but Roku."

Toph hocked up a loogie . "You know it would be nice for all of you have stories that included all of _us_ every once in a while. But to keep the story moving, what's your point Scarface?"

He ignored the blind girl. "My point is, we have seen him when his past lives take over. Now imagine my father doing it." The Fire Lord paused and let it sink in. Letting their imaginations run wild for a second. "I believe, it wasn't Aang that killed those men. I believe it was my fathers doing."

Sokka put a few more pieces of meat into his mouth. "Then we have an even bigger problem. Aang isn't dangerous anymore. He's…he's—"

"—Evil."

All eyes went towards the door and saw Aang desperately hanging onto his staff with both hands. He had been listening to their entire conversation. They all sat there stunned to see the pale corpse walking around and speaking. "Aang," Katara said. "Aang we were just talking. You know we don't think that about you."

He couldn't bare to look at the waterbender. "No. Sokka is absolutely right. I am evil." Aang acknowledged regrettably. He saw Katara try to come to his aid, but stopped her. "Zuko, you're wrong. Your father's spirit did not kill those men. I did." The Air Nomad confessed and saw their shock. He couldn't hide it any longer after sitting on that beach for days. "You all deserve to know the truth. And maybe that's not the only reason," he suggested. "Maybe I am just going crazy too, Sokka." Aang laughed. "Or perhaps I truly am evil! Either way it doesn't matter, does it?"

None of them spoke. Even Sokka stopped chewing his food and no sarcastic remark from Toph either. Katara could only hope her boyfriend was being delusional and not crazy.

Aang continued onward. "You all know that you don't have to keep following me. Before any of us took on this suicide mission, before understanding what any of us were getting into, I said that none of you had to travel any farther than you wanted. None of you owe me anything. There's the door!" Aang pointed to the outdoors. "No one is going to stop you and no one will think ill of you either. I cannot and _will_ not ask any of you to stay. I know my prioties. And perhaps all of yours have changed. If any of you, ANY of you," Aang lingered at each face and saving Katara's for last. "Don't want this, then leave now. Because I don't know what is going to happen tonight, tomorrow, next week, or even next year if I live that long. I am a danger. Each and every one of you have known that since the Fire Nation wanted my head! If you think you are better back at home, preparing for a war that is going to come, or training younglings to become strong warriors, or going back to a nation that needs their lord, then you need to decide tonight. Figure out what you really want in life, and if you don't want to jeopardies your future with me then I beg each and every one of you, please don't take the risk. The absolute last thing I need is more regret, and pain, and suffering for those I love. I will not ask this again, so I would think hard about this decision. Because tonight's verdict will forever repeating itself, so my advice is that you get it right the first time."

The Monk turned away before any of them could say a thing. He had rendered them speechless. Aang found his room in and slid the door hard. His heart was pounding and fear crept into his thoughts. Aang was so angry at himself that he took it out on all of his friends. He savaged through his pack and tossed out all his clothes, and found the letter from Guru Pathik. Inside of his other palm was also Katara's betrothal necklace. He'd been ignoring this dream for so long that, Aang had forgotten what it even looked liked. As he scanned every inch, he had forgotten how much precious time he took in making this for Katara. Every piece of satin sewn into perfection, hours spent pricking his fingers, and the idea of how he came to the ensemble of the necklace. It had actually come from Aunt Wu when Katara and he decided to change "everyone's" fate. Together, water and air did that. It gave the Avatar hope that together, as one someday, they could change destiny. Aang wanted her necklace to stand out from all of the others, just as she already did in his eyes. Katara was his whole world and bit-by-bit it was crumbling down. So many times he wanted to throw away the necklace, burn it till only ashes remained, but he just couldn't. This was the only symbol of love that was saving him from absolution. Guru Pathik told him to focus on it whenever Ozai's Spirit started getting too close to his heart. He had been a fool to think he could do it on his own. And it cost him the lives of two men that had now changed him.

Aang hated that he blacked out during the fight. Aang only saw the horror afterwards. He just could not grasp it. The Monk had been sparing life after life, and when he was about to fail, he took the easy road and killed. The bald boy tried to let it sink in once again. "I killed two men…I killed two men…I killed two men…I—" he began breaking down in sobs and pulled himself into a ball. "I'm so sorry—I'm so sorry that I failed you all! Forgive me…I beg of you, dear Spirits, do not punish anyone but me." He looked out the window that he had climbed out of and saw the stars and the moon. "Yue, if the spirits wish for two lives in stead for those I killed, look no further than me. I will gladly lay down my for them in knowing that my friends are safe." Aang cried and cried until his eyes dried and dark pink was the color of his face.

"_Oh Aang,_" a familiar woman's voice whispered in his ears. It was the spirit he too had forgotten. "_You are not alone in this. You never have been._"

"Really?" Sarcasm rang louder. "Then why do you only come now, when I am at my lowest! Why not when I was in the arena or about to kill those two men?! Where were you then!?"

The voice was silent but only for a moment. "_Tell me again of the red, black stripped Lily that Guru showed you._"

Aang chuckled. "You want me to talk about flowers? Really now."

"_Tell me about that day you found it concealed under piles of rocks, Aang. What did you learn that day?"_

He sighed in anger and closed his eyes. Breathing in and out and his fingers once again memorized the embroidery of his craftsmanship on Katara's necklace. It calmed the rage in him and when he opened his gray eyes he found himself gazing at the Guru and…himself. Aang was shocked to see the appearance of a very young boy that stood before him. The Monk couldn't help but smile in the presence of Guru Pathik. Even he still looked the same when last seen in the Eastern Air Temple. And suddenly he had a craving for onion and banana juice.

"_Tell me Aang," the bent down Guru motioned towards him, "what do you see?"_

_The Avatar looked over all of the ruins, "Lots of maroon rocks, and a black, red striped lily?" he asked questionably._

"_Very good. Now tell me the significance of the lily?" he said pointing to it._

_Aang scratched his bald head, "It's…alive?"_

_The dark colored man smiled. "Exactly. Underneath all of these rocks, this strong lily was still able to grow. It struggled its way to the highest peek, in order to get even a glimmer of sun."_

Aang had forgotten that the old had gone blind and yet had the sight of a gifted master. _"So…what does that have to do with anything?"_

_Guru Pathik put a hand on his shoulder, and stood up, "Even in the darkest of places, where no light could touch, it could still find its way out. This is no ordinary lily, Aang. This flower _strained_ its way out. If you were to lift all of these rocks, you could see the maze of vines that are scattered amongst them. It came to many dead ends, but still found a way when there seemed none." Aang prepared himself for the task at hand to lift the rocks up to see its mastery, but the Guru stopped him. _He had obviously had a different plan and it wasn't until now that Aang could truly grasp Guru Pathiks wise words._ "I want you to connect to it young Avatar, without moving anything. You need to feel its depth and struggle. Go ahead." he insisted._

_Aang bent down with confusion, and touched the lily lightly, and as soon as he did, his energy was connected to it. He felt the length of the stem that went through the crazy labyrinth in order reach the sun. It reminded him so much of what he once did in the swamp, and how he had found Appa and Momo just in time. _It was a crazy adventure in which Sokka, to this day, still does not believe in its supernatural powers.

_The bald Monk opened his eyes when he went to the bottom of the root, and found them spread farther and deeper to this ground, "This…lily went through so much. It made so many mistakes, but it kept going. And then, it finally found a way out."_

_The Guru smiled, "Very good, Aang. It's amazing to think that a single seed can still grow over tons of rocks. You have just witnessed the story of this flower personally, and what have you learned from it?"_

_Aang paused, and looked at the lily again. The sun was blistering hot, but he continued to stay focus on the matter at hand. "It represents life." he said looking up at the blind man and continued, "No matter how impossible the struggle is…you can always find the light. Even after going in the wrong direction, and making mistakes, it was able to capture sun. To the one thing that shows, love?"_

_Guru Pathik patted him on the shoulder, "Nature finds its own way of expression, in the simplest form, however complex."_

"_Just like when I looked at it from the beginning. It seemed so simple, but after connecting to the lily, I saw how _complex_ it really was." Aang said, understanding more and more._

_The white bearded man nodded, "You have taken the first step into realizing that in order for you to move through life, Life must move through you."_

_The Airbender smiled again, "It's what keeps us connected."_

"_Indeed. You are learning very quickly young Avatar, and it pleases me that I will have the privilege in showing you _many_ more things." Guru Pathik said with much enthusiasm._

It felt like someone just poured water over his body and his eyes popped open to the same room he had been sleeping in. This was a completely different feeling from being in the Spirit World. It was a glance back into his past. The past that Aang had allowed to fade away the more and more Ozai's spirit remained. The Monk was losing himself even more now. And it scared him. That fear alone was turning and twisting his mind.

"I'm losing…aren't I?" Aang asked her. His premonition was really coming true.

"_Aang—I am going to ask you something, and I know it will be difficult, but I need you to trust me on this. Allow me to remind you of things that you have forgotten from so long ago._"

The Monk considered this, "I don't know if I can. The past will only hurt me. When you brought that memory back I saw a young boy that I didn't even recognize. The child that was once in me is gone. I'm not turning into the Avatar…I am becoming something else. And I feel that the past would make things worse for me."

Suddenly, the Monk felt an invisible hug wrap around his shoulders and it was sincere and loving. "_Perhaps it is exactly why I need you to trust me and let me show you what memories you are fighting for._" In that split second Aang's thought about it and was taken away into his mind. Apparently, this spirit just needed a seed of hope to take him back in time.

Aang was falling and saw his young self once again.

_He glanced at his right side, and smiled at the young girl, who hadn't changed an inch in her position. "Katara?" he asked._

"_What?" she screamed against on his back. Hanging onto dear life._

"_Katara, I want you to let go of me." The Monk that was watching still felt Katara's grip tighten on him like an octopus. It caused him to laugh at her reaction, as she shook her head against him._

"_The last time I did that I was spinning out of control! And it scared me so much that I never __ever__ want to experience free fall again!" she yelled at him._

"_I promise I'll be right with you. I won't let go of you until you choose to!"_

"_Why are you asking me to do this, when you know that I won't ever let go?"_

"_Because, I want you to experience free falling from an airbenders perspective!"_

"_No! I…I can't! What if I keep falling and you won't be there?"_

The Monk that was watching couldn't help but smile at her fear. _Aang laughed louder at the statement she made. "Do you really think I would ever do that to you Katara?"_

From afar Aang saw Katara's reaction. She knew without a shadow of doubt that he would never let her fall to her death. But she remained quiet, not wanting to answer him. The Waterbender must have been so afraid of being in an environment that she could not control. She was a very brave woman.

"_Please Katara." She shook her head again, letting him know that she wasn't going to give up. "Katara…I need you to __trust __me, once again. I want to experience this with you. I will hold your hand the entire time if I have to, but please, let me show you first._

"_If I do this and hate it, I'm going to break that Avatar nose of yours!"_

Aang still couldn't help but smile at her threat years later. _"Just let go…I'll be with you the __entire__ time."_

The Airbender watched Katara sluggishly loosen her grip a few seconds later little by little. Her heart must've been beating like a drum by the way she was shaking throughout the flight. Aang could see in those blue eyes that she was starting to regret agreeing to this.

"_Okay, once I turn to the left side, just fall. I'll be with you!" Her eyes were still closed as she heard his words. After ten seconds, he turned, and did exactly as he said…she let go, and began to fall. _

_Katara started to scream as soon as she let go, with her stomach facing the ground, and descending to the earth. "You're dead Avatar! So dead!" _

The wind was blowing fiercely through her clothes and hair, with nothing to hold onto. But Aang finally saw her eyes open and saw tears begin to run up her temple unintentionally while still screaming in fear. However, the anxiety slowly became laughter. She was actually enjoying it. And the Airbender that was watching this the whole time couldn't help but smile at her joy. She loved it. And that laugh was so beautiful that it seems like years since she actually giggled out of pure joy and having fun.

_Aang had let her fall at least 100 feet before he came to her side. He slanted toward her right side, with her hands opened. His fingers barely touched hers, and when she felt a touch from Aang, she embraced his hand. It wasn't out of horror, but reassurance that he was keeping his promise. But she still couldn't help but laugh in the skies._

Aang never realized how much he had missed that laugh. This really was a different time and yet the Monk longed for this again. Every touch and every emotion was still just as strong as it was a years ago.

_She smiled at him, and let go of his hand again. Katara then started to summon up water all around her, and when she had the right amount she froze it into a thin long board. She placed her feet on it, and froze them to it as well, and the blissful girl started sky surfing; flipping herself, and spinning through the sky with control over the air now. _He had to admit, it was kind of hot to see her doing this again.

_She was having a blast, so he copied her, and joined the young and spirited woman. The world was spinning around them as their laughter filled up the halls of the heavens above them. _

_Katara stood up trying to again control her board, and when she finally had it she crouched and dipped the ice down and could feel the speed picking up as she left Aang behind. She knew she only had a few more hundred feet to go, but she didn't want to stop just yet. She kept twisting, turning, and flipping through the sky with absolute control and beauty._

That dream vanished and Aang was hit with yet another memory. It was the time when the Monk saved Zuko after seeing that he was the Blue Spirit. He saved his life even after knowing Zuko would kill him the moment he woke. After tending to his wounds, and when he finally awakend Aang was kind to him. He tells the Prince of his best friend, Kuzon, who was also a Fire Bender, and how they always had fun together. He then begs the question that if things were different between them, could they be friends too?

Another flashed and Aang was meeting Suki on the island, and learning the history of Kyoshi Warriors. How they thought him to be the enemy and believed the Avatar to have been deceased for a hundred years. All it took was some airbending to make them believe in hope once more.

Just as quickly he was switched to seeing the Blinde Bandit battle it out with The Boulder. The first time she called him Twinkle Toes and her running away with them. It was actually funny to watch her and Katara argue with one another, until they finally had to work together to pull off a scam. And then Combustion Man made things a bit more difficult in trying to accomplish a rescue mission. He even heard the conversation that she and Sokka had about Katara being a mother. Aang always knew she had a heart.

Then there was Sokka…he had a lot of bad luck and boy was he always angry. There was also the times Aang became very angry for the first time when he saw the bones of Monk Gyatso and how Katara calmed him.

And then the flashbacks got worse.

Suddenly, Aang was in the saddle with Appa and some of the Gang. Only this time, Aang was actually not with all of them. They all looked so tired. Katara continued to pour over map after map as if she was looking for something. Sokka got up from his spot and sat next to her.

_He was silent as he sat on the rear of the saddle with Katara, and sighed at her. The night was cool and quiet up in the dark, starry sky._

"_You okay?" he asked finally._

_Katara looked over at her brother, and saw the concern on his face. "Of course I am. I just thought it would be a nice night to stay up for a little bit."_

_Sokka half smiled at her, "Liar." he said, and then he saw Katara turn her head back to the full white moon, with no hint of smile from his sarcasm. "Katara," her older brother said sincerely, "we need to have a talk."_

_The Waterbender didn't look at him as she continued looking at the white sphere in the sky._

_Sokka continued, when he knew that she wasn't going to look at him. "We are all getting really worried about you. Particularly me. And I know you want to find Aang, but we have been at it for six months, with no sign of him at all."_

No wonder Aang didn't recall this memory. He was never there for this. This was the time when he and the Guru vanished quickly. These were the months he had missed while searching for him. This was the worst shape Katara had been in. She had thinned out too much and there was no spirit in those blue eyes that he craved so much. Her hair was in a mess and it seemed as if that teenage girl suddenly transformed into an old maid. Aang would never say this to her face of course, but he just couldn't believe this. He thought he had done right in leaving Katara and the gang. Perhaps he made a mistake…no he couldn't think that way. But it still broke his heart to see what she went through and how much hurt there was_._

"_I think it's time you stop this, Katara." Sokka finally said._

"_What are you talking about?" she asked quietly._

"_You can't go on like this baby sister. I can't keep watching your hope getting shattered every time, you hear something about Aang, and then you don't find him. You're scaring the hell out of the others and me too. You have become obsessed with this, and it's not making things any better for you!"_

_Anger inflicted upon her face. "And what would you like me to do? Hmm? Give up on him? Stop searching for the man I have fallen in lo…" and then she stopped herself before looking away. _

Aang felt like throwing himself off of Appa and plummeting to the ground.

"_You love him, huh?" he said stupidly._

_Katara gulped at what she just said out loud to her brother, "Yes…yes I do." she said, as a small tear ran down her right cheek, and dripping off of her chin._

"_I don't want to say this, but you need to let Aang go. He is __not" __he emphasized her with his words, "coming back any time soon it looks like. You need to stop this fixation."_

_Katara looked up at her worried brother through tearful eyes, clenching to her warriors clothes, and then shaking her head slowly, "I can't. We have to find him, he's our responsibility!"_

"_Not anymore." he finally said, "__He__ chose to leave us Katara, with no remorse."_

"_But I could have stopped him! I could have helped him! I…I mean __we__ could have come up with a solution! If I hadn't had shot water at him, he wouldn't have reacted the way he did! Or if I had confronted him about the way he had been acting after Ozai, but I didn't! I sat back, and did __nothing__!" she yelled._

_Sokka scooted closer and put an arm around her shoulder. "You can't blame yourself Katara." he finally said, to break the silence, "__I__ attacked him, and it set him off."_

"_I still could have helped him!" she said shaking her head again, with tears flowing constantly down her face, "If I can help bring him out of the Avatar State, then I could have saved him out of whatever had happened." The Waterbender put her right hand over her face, as she held back her scream of pain._

_Without hesitation, Sokka grabbed his sister, and pulled her into a hug. She tried to get push away from him, but his grip tightened on her, and she finally gave up. Katara had been trying to hold back her tears, but when he held her the way an older brother should when someone is in pain, she broke. All of her emotion came flooding out of, and stained onto her brothers blue shirt. After a few minutes, she made the tears stop, and pushed herself off of him, allowing her sit back in her original spot._

_The Waterbender wiped her weakness away, and sat there for a second. "It wasn't Aang."_

_Sokka looked up at her strangely, "What are you talking about?" he asked rhetorically, "It was all Aang's fault!"_

"_I mean when Aang attacked us, and before I was struck, I saw the way he looked. There was this instant moment where I saw red in his eyes, but it disappeared when he threw the water back at me."_

_Her older brother shook his head, "It doesn't matter Katara. He attacked you, and then us. It was probably just the light playing tricks anyways. You don't need to defend him anymore Katara, because he did that to you!" he said pointing at her head._

_The chocolate haired girl reached up her hand up towards the top of her left skull, feeling the small scar that remained there. "I'm not! But I'm telling you Sokka-!" and before she could finish, her pony tailed brother interrupted her._

"—_I can't let you do this to yourself anymore. I promised Dad that I would look after you and protect you. Even if it means from yourself!" Sokka yelled. "We took a vote Katara…and we all think…it's time to go home." Sokka said finally, waiting for her reaction._

_He then put a hand on Katara's shoulder, "You know Aang doesn't want us to find him. Me, you, and the others can't go on like this. He's my friend too, and I want to find him just as badly, but…I can't just sit here and watch you do this to yourself. When he wants to come back, he will." _

Aang watched as she looked back towards those that were sleeping. Oh how he wished he could hear her thoughts. Katara was trying to be strong and yet it seemed that it was pointless. All those months in searching for him and there was nothing to show for it. Aang knew it would be difficult for her, but he thought he had it worse than she did. He had wounded her deeper than any person could. Sokka had every right to protect his sister. That vote was probably what truly saved her. Aang wasn't angry at them for protecting her. Instead, it made him realize that if he were to die today, they would always have each other's back. Making tough choices to protect one another and most importantly, they would stay together. This was little comfort to the Monk, but he also saw how they were without him. Each of them had given up months and days of their lives to search for him. Seeking out every rumor of mention of his name. He was blessed to have such amazing friends. Together they were stronger. And with time…things could change and each could move on.

Aang blinked and saw that he was no longer in the sky, but instead back in the room. Everything was so quiet now. The sound of flying through the wind had ceased to exist. But his pain hadn't subsided. And then there was also some happiness as well. All of the past faces he saw, recalling how they were all just a bunch of young teenagers who were in way over their heads. Seeing things he never knew of and even reminding him of certain lessons.

One thing was for certain; the gang would all be okay in the end.

What little hope it gave him though.

A knock came from his door. Aang quickly scrambled and threw all of the items in his hand back into the pack and slid the door open. In front of him stood Zuko, Teo, and Sokka each with a bowl of fruits or veggies.

"We figured you might be hungry."

It wasn't until Aang saw the delicious vegetarian salad that he quickly took the bowl and devoured it all. There were a few times he almost bit off his own finger from his crazed famine. Zuko waited patiently. They weren't who Aang wanted to talk to, but decide to just let them say whatever they wanted.

"We figured you could use a bromance tonight man! Being surrounded by all of these Kyoshi Warriors is great and all, but when you get a group of girls together the best thing a man can do is run." Sokka explained their situation. "And with your room being the biggest, well you win." He said shoving past him and the others trailing.

"What Sokka is trying to say is that we think you could use a guys night out. Just the four of us." Zuko corrected for their interference and shutting the door behind.

"Ugh, look guys," Aang said before they got comfortable. "I don't know if I want to talk to any of you right now."

Teo snickered. "Who said anything about talking!" But before Aang could question their motives, Teo pulled out two very large jugs from behind his back. "We just want to have a few drinks. Take your mind off for a little bit while we let the chicks do their thing."

Aang hesitated.

"Come on!" Sokka pleaded. Aang hated when he did that. "Stop being a baby Airbender and have a few drinks with us. Hell, you may even have some fun doing it!"

The Monk looked over at the Fire Lord. "And you agreed to this?!" He said a little appalled since the last time their drinking didn't go over so well. Especially, with Sokka and his drunken self.

He shrugged and patted him on the shoulder, "which is exactly why you _will_ be drinking with us this time. Otherwise I'll make sure your night gets worse as Sokka throws up in your bed and backpack." Zuko smiled devilishly.

"…I hate you."

OooooOooooOoooo

For the first time in what seemed like years, Katara was actually enjoying her time being surrounded by giggling girls. Not that she didn't love the company of Toph, Mai, and Suki, but just in general, being around other teen girls was just nice. Toph of course complained the whole time, Mai was her normal silent self, and Suki was the exact same. Katara was going to love her as a sister. It was tough to remember all of their names, because each of them looked alike. They took no offense when Katara finally gave up on trying to it right. Unlike, Toph she was able to give all of them nicknames. Plus, this was probably the only time Suki would ever see her best friends again until she and Sokka would marry. So out of tradition, and not wanting to take that chance, they decided to throw her a bachelorette party. Which for a Kyoshi Warrior means a lot of drinking, hookah, tons of sweets, gifts, and unpredictable games. At first Katara couldn't help but worry, but Suki assured her that they have had a lot of new recruits join forces and are keeping a watchful eye out for tonight. If there was anyone she could trust, Suki was that person and decided to try and have fun.

Their drinks weren't as strong as what Katara thought they would be. They were in fact very sweet. She liked them none the less and kept them coming. Toph continued to be her charming self with her witty sarcasm and the pun jokes. The girls simply loved her brutal honesty. Mai always seemed to have a drink in her hands, but never took a sip. It probably wasn't her type of a drink anyways.

"Okay ladies," one of the girls spoke out. "It's time to start opening presents!" Each of them cheered and raised their glasses towards Mai in her honor.

The first gift was very unique lingerie that made them almost seem pretty pointless to wear if they were to reveal so much. She got about two more of those, and then something called "edible" underwear. The idea of food on a woman in Sokka's presence made her want to vomit. Next was a pair of handcuffs, handcrafted dagger, a whip, and a many other things Katara wished she could forget. The ear wax was from Katara, countless pairs of socks came from Mai, and a tender note that Katara wrote from Toph. The letter specifically said, "_Really? You're still getting married?_"

Next came the time for games. There was the "Never, Have I ever…" which proved to be interesting in finding out about a lot of personal information. Another one was called "Drink-or-Dice" and that one was pretty basic. Katara continued keep drinking the same fruity stuff and was already feeling a strange buzz fogging up her head. This wasn't normal, because she knew how hold her liquor, but she couldn't stop drinking. Even Toph couldn't walk straight and with her feet as her eyes that meant a lot of stumbling, and falling, and tons of laughs. Then came the game of "Truth or Dare."

"And now to the good stuff," another Kyoshi Warrior said with a bit of slur. "Suki, you're the bride to be you must therefore answer first; truth or dare."

"Truth."

Many of the questions rendered towards Suki, which was perfectly fine with the rest of them. Especially, when they started getting into the questions of in between the sheet. In which case, Katara and Toph drank even more. There were a lot of dares too; one girl shot an arrow into an apple on top of a head, blindfolded, another had deal with having someone's fingers spread out on the table while in between each very quickly, and other things that also included Katara in learning just how _really_ close these girls were.

Katara, Toph, and Mai decided to stay huddled in their own group. It helped to let them believe that they had left the party. And as much as they liked the Kyoshi Warriors, it was starting to become very cautious and it only got worse for Katara.

"Katara!" someone yelled from the very blurred crowd. "Truth or dare?"

Unfortunately, she was stupid enough to answer. "Truth."

"What is it to be in bed with the Avatar? Is _it_ as big as they say it is?!"

Another joined in, "I've heard that all Avatars are amazing in bed."

"How would you know?!" Some other girl chimed. "You've only known one Avatar your whole life!"

"Well he HAS to be great! He's the Avatar. That perfect body, gorgeous tattoos, and la uscious gluteus to look at."

All of the girls started giggling and agreeing with one another. All of Katara's nightmares were colliding. And worst part of all, she couldn't stop blushing.

"Hey!" one of them yelled. "Shut up and let Katara answer the question. Is it true, Katara? Does it even scale to comparison?"

Everyone fell silent. All eyes were on Katara. It was worse than her nightmares. They were questioning about her sex life and what made it even worse was the fact she didn't know anything. Of course the thought had crossed her mind countless times, but she would never admit that to any of them. She knew that Toph could hear her heart beating like a crazed animal and it was absolutely frightening. She was terrified of these women and their eyes. Aang and she hadn't really gone too far with him unfortunately. They both wanted to, but Aang wanted nothing more than to protect her. She was past tipsy, but not fully drunk yet.

"Yeah, you know I—I'm not comfortable talking about that." Katara said. Trying hard to think on each and every word.

"It's the name of the game. No take-backsy's!"

Katara gulped down the rest of her drink. "How about you help me out here, Toph?" she whispered.

Suddenly, she too started giggling. "No way sweetness. This is my entertainment for tonight, until they all fall asleep and then I am just going to draw on their faces." She smiled devilishly at her dark plan.

Katara looked over at Mai who had somehow fallen asleep with her first drink dripping onto the floor. Her eyes then followed to Suki and she was beyond drunk and extremely loud and probably unaware of what was going on. She too wished to be in that state right about now.

"I don't think its appropriate—"

"—Oh come on! Just answer the question."

She was silent for a long time. "We, I mean I…we have—I don't know." Worst thing about drinks, they force the truth out of you. Damn.

They all gasped in complete shock. And that was when the questions poured out even more. "What?! How is that even possible? Does he have problems down there? How can you date someone for so long and never see anything?! Please tell me you have gone to past the second tree!"

This was the last thing Katara needed. Aang and she were fine…just not in that department. Maybe some advice wouldn't be so bad. They haven't done anything in quite a while. Girls weren't meant to have to go this long and she couldn't imagine how Aang felt either. Maybe he didn't find her attractive in that way? She knew Aang had a lot on his mind besides sex, but it was killing her.

OooooOooooOoooo

"You know what I don't get?!" Sokka slurred before having another drink. "Why do girls have to be in groups when they go to the bathroom? I mean seeeeriously!"

They all started laughing. "Do you know what I think?" Teo yelled in a whisper. "It's a Conspiracy Theory! When one girl goes, _all_ must go to the bathroom and communicate with the other women around the globe about how they will take over one day."

Sokka's eyes widened. "That would make total sense! But how do they all know when to go? What's their mean of communicating?"

Zuko took another shot. "Seriously guys? Conspiracy Theory? It's more like a plotting scheme! They always seem happier whenever they are done 'going to the bathroom'."

"Maybe they just actually go to the bathroom and leave as a pack because it's convenient?" Aang suggested. They had been on this subject for over three hours and the drinking continued. He had had his fair share, but didn't feel the effects. So every once in a while he would have yet another drink. They all looked at him with sagging eyes. It was probably from all of the hookah they'd been smoking up too. Aang wasn't for sure if they even knew where they were, or if it was the drinks.

"Damn it, Aang." Sokka pointed his finger at Zuko. "You are ruining my buzz and bro night! Here, have another." He said pouring the liquid out. In his eyes, the cup was filling up, but in fact he was spilling it all over the table.

"Okay, okay, guys!" Zuko calmed them. "Lets get serious now…why do girls go to the bathroom together?"

"I have been wondering the same thing for years!" Teo muttered. "I believe there is a Conspiracy forming."

That was pretty much how Aang's night went. Any time he tried to change subject, they would always turn back to this one single question. And so he continued drinking until finally he had reached the point where his mind seemed to be floating. It wasn't anything like airbending, but the feeling was somewhat mutual. Any time he moved a part of his body, it seemed like a delayed reaction. The room was slightly spinning, but it was nothing short of what he was used to. Aang was able to come back to the real world when Sokka finally changed subjects at long last. Only it was something he wished they didn't conspire about.

"You—you—you wanna know what I like the most about Suki? She knows how to get kinky in between the sheets. And the foreplay…dude I am the Lord of foreplay!" He laughed and smoked some more until he couldn't it in anymore and started coughing. "But let me ask you this, Zuko how could you ever marry someone as dull as Mai?"

A wicked grin crossed his face. "Have you ever heard the phrase, "It's the quiet ones that you need to watch out for?" Well that my friend is as true as it comes."

Sokka's mouth hung open. "How loud."

His smile never ceased. "Lets just say that she once woke up the entire palace. And I always heard that just because your married, it stops. They lied."

The Water Warrior raised a cup up until Zuko clinked it. "To screamers!"

"To foreplay," they both laughed and drank. "But you know none can compare to that of Toph!" he suggested and all eyes were then placed up Teo.

"Guys, I'm in a wheelchair, remember?" He said sadly before taking another drink. They were all silent.

"Holy crap!" Sokka tried to whisper and failed miserably. "Teo is in a wheelchair!"

Zuko slapped him on the side of his head. But suddenly Teo started laughing. "HA-HA-HA-HA! You guys should've seen your faces!" He was laughing so hard that tears sprung from his eyes. "Oh man, that was classic."

Once again they were all laughing. "But seriously," Zuko motioned back after his sides stopped crying out. "How on earth can you tame Toph? I'm pretty sure she would rather beat you and call it a night."

Teo took to another sip. "Actually…she's—really sweet."

Zuko spat out his drink onto both Aang and Zuko. "What parallel universe was I dropped into?! How can Toph and Sweet be in the same sentence? Does she do all the work?"

Aang kicked Sokka in the shin. "Shut up, Sokka!"

"No, no, it's a valid question. And yes, sometimes she does do a lot, but lets just say I'm more capable than I appear. Plus, there is always more than one way to please a lady."

"…seriously? A lady? What fresh hell is this?" Sokka demanded.

Zuko raised his cup towards the young inventor. "To Teo. Going where no man has gone before! And may never!"

"Here, here!" they all drank as one. Gasping from the burning liquid in their throats.

"How about you Avatar?" Suko spat out. "You and my sister done it yet?"

"Dude! That's your sister!" Teo pointed out.

"It doesn't matter! I won't even remember this night…or day!" he smoked another.

Aang suddenly started feeling sick. He couldn't decide whether is was the actual drink or telling them the truth. Even Toph and Teo were having a thing and that's as far out there as it comes. It's not that he didn't think of this. The last talk he had about this was when they were all drinking again and Zuko gave him some advice. Unfortunately, Aang was _always_ thinking about it. There had been so many nights sleeping next to Katara that he had to physically remove himself, splash ice cold water all over himself and train. Training kept his mind occupied until he saw the Waterbender again. He wanted nothing more than to rip the clothes from her flesh and feast upon every inch of her soft body. He dreamt about it, envisioned it, longed to be inside of her. But the daunting question was, why didn't he just do it? They were hopelessly in love with one another, even though that question lingered right now, but he had had opportunity after opportunity and every time he couldn't. He did come close, and Katara pushed him away out of respect of his decision. But how much longer could he hold before folding? She didn't make it any easier either. Even her sighs when sleeping called out to him. Or the way her legs would slide up against his and her lower body moved close below his abdomens. He knew that was just Katara's way of making sure he hadn't left her, but it was not helping with the situation. Aang was not intoxicated enough to have this conversation.

"It's just fine." He said and left it at that. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough.

"Just fine?" Teo said in absolute confusion. "That's like describing wine. This is a woman! Show some balls here and give us something!"

"Dude that's my sister!"

"You opened the can of worms first," Zuko said. Most of the time he would defend the poor young Avatar, but he too was curious if Aang had even ventured out that far yet. It had been some months since their last talk. If he was holding out this long than he was a crazy man. Zuko admitted that Katara was in fact a very beautiful woman, but Mai was his fire.

"I didn't think he was stupid enough to talk about it!"

"But," Teo interrupted. "Now that it has been opened, Aang what the hell are you doing at night with her?"

"Umm…sleeping?"

"Is that a question or are you wanting us to guess?"

Aang took a deep breath, grabbed the jug and started gulping it down until it was all gone. A lot of it dripped into his ears and through his shirt, pausing for something to happen and then nothing. "Look guys, I like to keep my personal life between Katara and I."

"...Oh my lanta!" Sokka screamed, "You guys haven't done it yet!"

What Aang wouldn't give to be back in that ring of fire right now. "Just shut up. Your drunk and high."

"Maybe so, but I don't care! How is it that you two haven't done anything?"

"I'd hate to say this," Zuko agreed, "but seriously. How the hell is that even possible?"

"Look it's complicated."

"Not really," Teo laughed.

They all just kept starring at him with those glossy eyes of theirs. It was kind of freaking him out and was pretty sure he was having a panic attack. "I—I…I think we need more to drink. Be right back!" Aang said quickly and ran out the door before any of them could stop him. Even if they had tried he knew they would fall over. He wasn't planning on coming back. But as he continued walking Aang was beginning to become a bit woozy. It was late and he really needed to go bed, and yet he wanted to stay up. Katara was swarming his head and was starting to get a strange tingling feeling below the waist, and a certain hardening.

"_Grapefruit. Grapefruit. Grapefruit…monkey feathers!_" He thought and realized for the first time he wasn't in any sort of pain. Everything felt relaxed. But his mind was on nothing but Katara now and going deeper and deeper into his imagination with the Waterbender. Aang was able to find a pitcher of water and quickly walked into a room and slid the door. This notion wasn't going away any time soon. Aang threw off his shirt from the exhausted heat stroke he was having and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What the hell." A woman's voice from behind startled the young man. "Aang?"

"_You've got to be kidding me."_ The Airbender thought to himself. "Katara?" he said standing up and using the pitcher to cover his manhood. "What are you doing here?"

"It's my room. What are you doing here?"

In his defense, Aang didn't know. Now he wished that this information passed towards him. "I'm, kinda, hiding."

She rubbed her eyes. Still experiencing the headache after throwing it all up. Katara did feel better after grabbing some bread and cheese and had just passed out. She was a bit grouchy, but wasn't appalled in seeing her boyfriend shirtless. Regrettably, it was making her a bit edgy now. "Hiding from whom?"

"Your brother…and Zuko…and Teo. They decided to have a bro night and I was ambushed."

She sat up from the bed with the top of her swimsuit showing, and Aangs eyes drooling over her soft moon touched skin. And this wasn't helping him either. He raised the pitcher and poured water all over to help cool him off. It kind of helped a little.

"Are you okay?" Katara questioned his strange motives. She removed the covers and stood up to talk to him.

Aang took a few steps back and held his hand up to make the beautiful goddess stop. "Please don't come any closer, until you put some clothes on."

She raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms. "Why should I have to? I was here first."

Aang paused for a moment and tried very hard to compose himself. But his eyes couldn't veer away from the wonderland. She was like a lusciously forbidden fruit that taunted him day after day. Her long wet hair clung to her caramel skin. Whispering for Aang to come closer and remove the scattered strands of hair. His heart was beating like a crazy drum and started to get the quezy notion in his stomach. There was an absolute possibility that it was just the drinks, but he knew better. All of that talk about his sex life was bothering him. It wasn't so much about the boys finding out that he and Katara hadn't physically gone that far, but it was the fact that they hadn't talked about it since. Mostly because he was terrified, and also he didn't know if he could control Ozai, let alone himself. Was it really worth the risk if he hurt Katara again?

He whipped the water from his face. "Katara, now is not the time to tempt me right now."

"How is this," she motioned her entire figure, "tempting?! I wear this all the time. Wait, have you been drinking?"

Aang took a few steps back. "You know what, yes I did. For the first time I am relaxed and not in so much pain that I have to constantly be on my guard with you!" He couldn't believe he just said that out loud. And it didn't stop there. "Do you really think it is easy for me to be calm with you around? That I am consistently fighting every with my last bit of strength to resist you, to protect you without hurting you? I try and I try to stop the pain, but I don't know how anymore." He panted out the words and fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. "I don't want to fight anymore…I know we have a lot to talk about, but I don't have the words right now. Tonight, all I want is you. And yet I feel guilty for admitting that." His hands hid the Monk's face, as if he could not look upon the presence of an angel. He wouldn't dare.

Katara felt her heart flutter to his honesty. For the first time he wasn't talking about controlling the deathly Spirit inside of him, or the war, or the tournament that they needed to talk about. For the first time in so long, Aang was talking about their relationship and the wanting of more. He may have had a few drinks, but he was speaking the truth. And here he was, kneeling before her and completely surrendering. Katara had wanted nothing more than to hear Aang speak those words for so long. They both knew how much they loved one another, and had proved it time and time again, but she couldn't deny how much more it meant to hear him say that he was struggling as much as she was. She walked towards Aang quietly and removed those chained hands and raised his chin up. Wanting Aang to see her actually smile.

Her fingertips scanned all parts of his face. Gently soothing whatever guilt remained in him until Aang was falling for Katara's warm touch. The Airbenders own hands eventually gained some strength and running his own calloused hands up on her cool smooth legs, and anticipating every goose bump that rose to his touch. Aang heard Katara's breathing pick up a bit more and grabbed her muscular thighs before pulling her stomach into his face, and began kissing her. Katara didn't want it to stop as she pulled Aangs face closer into her skin. The wet of his skin seemed to only cry out for more of him, and the deeper Aang embraced in her presence, the more he didn't care any longer.

**So this wasn't my longest or probably best chapter, but still enough drama to keep you all happy enough I hope. And of course, I would end the chapter like THIS! Maybe I just like taunting you Avatards ;) question remains, is KatAang finally going to happen? After a many chapters, will I finally write a sex scene, or am I going to keep holding out?**

**Decisions, decisions. Keep sending me post and PM's! Good or bad, I wanna hear your thoughts. **

**Peace and Love Avatards**


End file.
